The Otherside
by sociopathic stoner
Summary: Albus Potter is being haunted by a recurring dream that doesn't place his father in the best light. But is it just a dream, or something much more serious? Contains violence, sexual situations, and sociopath Harry. Inspired Dexter/American Psycho.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters are the creation of JK Rowling. Except for the few that I created, but never mind those nobodies.

Chapter 1

Harry Potter quietly opened the creaky door to the house he shared with his wife and two sons. It was late, very late and the only thing he could think about after being away from his family for entire week was sleep. A rare occurrence for the Auror who usually made a priority to shag his wife senseless after a mission. But not tonight, and for that matter- not for awhile. His youngest son, Albus, was only three months old and never managed to make it through the night without waking up. Two year-old James was no better, he continually found excuses to sleep in his parents bed, much to Harry's annoyance.

He slipped off his boots and flung his jacket onto a chair in the dining room before pulling out a bottle of firewhiskey from the cabinet. He poured a little more than usual into a glass and sipped slowly. The past week had been hell- apparating from one rainy location to another in an effort to round up the last of Voldemort's deatheaters. He had defeated Voldemort at age 17, and at 26 he was still trying bring his minions to justice- a frustrating fact of life. The mission had lasted a total of five days and he brought three deatheaters to Azkaban to await their sentence. The past two days however, had been spent on a personal mission. In nearly all of his missions assigned by the ministry, he managed to fit in some time for himself- time that he never mentioned to anyone. If anyone did ever find out about his activities in such situations- the end result would not be pretty.

There was no denying the fact that Harry was a hero, he had been considered one since he was an infant and he still couldn't shake the title. Always modest, he couldn't help but cringe on the inside whenever the Daily Prophet referred to him as a hero in an article, or even when Ginny whispered it into his ear at their most intimate moments. _Hero_, he hated the word and all the hype it generated. He didn't have superhuman powers, just bad luck. The bad luck to be cursed with a deadly path before he was even born. The bad luck to lose his parents so early in life and be sent to live with the Dursleys.

Harry shuddered at the thought of Vernon's booming voice and fat, red face. He quickly downed the last of the glass before refilling it. If anything it was the Dursleys that did this to him- that instilled the dark rage that he could never shake off, that was always brewing beneath his skin and could never ever boil over in front of others. He had come close a few times in his fifth year at Hogwarts- he shouted and sulked like most teenagers. But then again he also almost bit his headmaster and destroyed the old man's office at the end of the year. But in a way, fifth year was a blessing- he learned his fate, his life's purpose. Kill or be Killed. Why not spend the summer practicing?

He was still too young to do magic outside of school at the time, but you didn't need a wand to take another life. And finding suitable victims would be easy, maybe not on Privet Drive but definitely in the scummy parts of London. It wouldn't be about learning how to kill, but to get used to killing. He had heard about the mental problems that soldiers would come back with from war. Killing could not only hurt the victim and his family, but also the killer. He couldn't have any of that, he couldn't kill a death eater and then cry about it. Letting his guard down was not an option. So that summer, Harry Potter armed himself with his aunt's best carving knife and snuck out several times during the hot summer nights to find a target. Nightfall ensured good cover and a pair of Dudley's leather driving gloves would limit his vulnerability of being caught…as if anyone really cared about a few dead bums.

It wouldn't be the first time he ever killed anything. There was the Basilisk in his second year, and Professor Quirell in his first. But even before that, the golden boy of the Wizarding world had been killing whatever unfortunate creature crossed his path when he was in the wrong mood…

_Seven year old Harry was running down the street at top speed. Dudley and his gang were big and slow, but Harry was tired from not eating a thing all day. His aunt refused to let him eat breakfast after he burnt the toast and further punished him by refusing give any lunch money. He would have to hide or else he would be caught. He quickly turned the corner and darted in between houses and backyards. He wasn't sure where he would end up, but for now he just needed to get those buffoons off his tail._

_ His breath grew shorter, and Dudley's gang was nowhere in sight. But he could hear their shouts coming closer. He hastily dove under in between some nearby bushes, only to cry out in pain. They were rose bushes, thorny rose bushes. He muffled his crying with the back of his hand while examining the bleeding pricks on his arms and knees. The voices became louder, then softer, then silent. After a few more minutes of hiding, Harry rolled out from underneath the bushes and absently sat on the lawn, not caring if the owner stuck out their head to yell at him._

_ Everything seemed wrong to him, the unfairness of the world was not lost on Harry Potter, despite his young age. He was a good boy, or so he thought. He finished all his chores and did well in school. He was polite to other children even if they were mean or just completely ignored him. But then there was his cousin, Dudley. Dudley never did anything around the house, opting to instead sit in front of the television and stuff his face with candy and ice cream. His grades at school were never good, not that his parents were too concerned. He was mean to anyone who wasn't in his gang of equally mean boys, especially Harry. And yet, Dudley had everything. _

_Dudley had parents._

_ What did Harry have? Nothing. He angrily tore a fist of grass out of the earth and chucked it in frustration. He did it again a few times before he realized it didn't make him feel any better. With a sniffle, he hopped back onto his feet and looked around at his surroundings for something to hit. The rosebush perhaps? But the thorns…_

_ He spotted a stick lying on the ground and grabbed it without a second thought. He started whacking the rosebush, watching the soft petals come undone and float to the ground. But then a noise from the bushes stopped his attack. He was breathing heavily, but he was no longer crying and his cuts didn't even hurt anymore. He used the stick to push aside the branches of the bush to see where the noise was coming from. He didn't have to look that hard._

_ A Calico cat and two kittens walked out from the bush and mewed softly at Harry. He snorted in annoyance. He never liked cats, mostly because of the time he spent in Mrs. Figg's house when the Dursley's went out. They smelled funny and their litter boxes smelt worse. He could remember on one occasion when he was a bit younger; he was trying to play with a grey tomcat, tempting him with a piece of yarn. But instead of swatting at the string, he had aimed for Harry's hand. By the time he had pulled his hand away from the retched animal, it was already covered in gushing red scratches. Mrs. Figg yelled at him for "teasing" her cat and then proceeded to clean his cuts with a very painful clear liquid._

_ Harry had been so enrapt in the memory that he didn't even pay attention to the stick in his hand until it came down hard on the head of the mother cat. He brought in down several more times to make sure she wouldn't be getting back up. He was surprised to see the two kittens still standing there instead of fleeing. They looked scared and wide eyed, but they continued to switch between looking up at Harry and then down at their unmoving mother. A thought came up in his head amongst the shock and slight confusion he had been feeling. Harry raised the stick high and brought it down hard on one of the kittens. Unlike his mother, there was no need to repeatedly hit him._

_ The remaining kitten jumped in fright before running back into the bushes. Harry didn't bother making a move for him. They were on the same level now. Both alone and sad. Both without parents. At least someone would know what it was like to be him, even if it was just a stupid cat. He dropped the stick and started walking home. He felt different. Not necessarily good, but better than he had been. He didn't quite know what he was feeling or how to describe it- but he liked it._

Harry snapped back to reality and polished off the last of his drink. He grunted in annoyance, still feeling a bit wired from his thoughts of the past, not mention his latest kill. Morton Ulrich- a muggle, and a very bad one at that. Harry had first read about him in a muggle newspaper he came across on his mission and knew he would have this man dead by the end of the week. A convicted child molester who had just avoided twenty years in prison for the rape of a ten year old thanks to his slick lawyer. Harry spent a day following him, learning his routine. And then he made his move.

He could still hear Morton struggle against the rope that tied his limbs down to flimsy folding chair. A quick slice of the throat and it was all over, well the fun part anyway. It took him a few hours to cut Morton's body into portions that would fit into plastic garbage bags, and cleaning up the scene of blood and anything else was always tedious. Technically, there was no need to dispose of the body or clean up the crime scene. Even if muggle authorities found his DNA, there was nothing in their computer systems to trace it back to him. The only thing he didn't do was use magic, although it would make things so much easier, he couldn't risk the Ministry doing a test on his wand to see what spells he had been using.

With a sigh, he poured a half glass and gulped it down. Feeling well enough for bed, he started walking up the stairs as softly as he could. Walking down the hallway, he made it past James's room, and then Albus's room until he finally reached his own door. All he had to do was get in bed without awaking Ginny and he was golden. She slept like a rock anyway, except of course when…

And then he heard it. It started off as a soft mewling, but quickly escalated into wailing screams. It was time for Albus to eat. Harry groaned and turned around to fetch a bottle from the kitchen, no use in waking up Ginny. He was halfway down the hallway before he heard his own bedroom door creak open.

"Harry?" Ginny's soft, sleepy voice called out. Harry spun on his heel and swiftly, though quietly made his way to her. Her long crimson hair was a bit tousled and her eyes were half closed, but Harry thought she looked amazing in the soft light of the hallway, not mention the obvious lack of bra underneath her night gown. He gathered her in his arms and molded his mouth to hers. Ginny complied with a soft moan and lazily raked her fingers through his already disheveled hair. "When did you get back?" she asked after they broke apart.

"A few minutes ago. I was about to come to bed, but it seems Albus has other plans for me." He smiled.

"You must be exhausted, I can take care of him for now. Why don't you get to bed?"

"No, you've had to take care of both the boys on your own for a week. I don't mind." He reassured her with a kiss on the forehead. "Go back to bed love, I'll be in a bit." Ginny smiled sleepily and walked back into their bedroom. Albus's wails of hunger continued.

Harry quickly made his way downstairs and grabbed a bottle of Ginny's breast milk from the fridge. He performed a heating charm on the bottle while walking back upstairs, one of the advantages of being a wizard parent. He set the bottle down next Albus's crib and lifted the boy into arms, rocking him softly to quiet the screams. Albus took hold of the bottle with his mouth and suckled happily.

His soft black hair wasn't very long, but it had the same messy appearance as Harry's. And although it was hard to see in the darkness of the room, Harry knew that Albus's eyes shined a bright green just like his own. It was with an unspoken of pride that he first examined his second son. James looked more like one of his Weasley uncles than he did his own father- red hair and freckles with a bottomless pit of a stomach even at his young age. Albus on the other hand looked just like him. Maybe he would one day even be a Gryfindor seeker like his Dad. But this one was a long way from getting his Hogwarts letter, much to Harry's delight.

Albus released the now empty bottle from his mouth and Harry brought him up to his shoulder and patted him lightly on the back until he was rewarded with a small belch. He brought him back down looked into his son's half-closed eyes.

"You're really the only I can tell this to, because I know you can't tell anyone." Harry whispered. "And even if you could talk, you wouldn't rat out your old man would you?" he smiled. Albus yawned, which he took as a 'yes'.

"Your Daddy kills people." Harry said softly. Albus closed his eyes and drifted to sleep. "Let's try and keep that between you and me, alright?" He placed Albus back into his crib and walked out to finally get some sleep…

Fifteen year old Albus Potter jerked awake from the confusing dream that had been haunting him for two months. The young wizard ran a hand through his shaggy black hair, making a mental note to ask his mum for a trim today. He turned onto his side to get a look at the bedside alarm clock. Seven in the morning; much too early to be awake during the summer holidays. He closed his eyes to force himself asleep. He had been having the same dream for most of the summer. In his dream he was just a baby, lying in his crib, feeling alone and hungry. A much younger version of his father walked in and put a bottle to his lips. His father would hold him protectively in his arms and muttered something about a secret. As he held his infant form, his dad would always say the same line-

"Your Daddy kills people. Let's try and keep that between you and me, alright?"

And then he would wake up. The first time, he shrugged and fell back asleep. Several nights later he had the dream again. He dismissed this, confusing the dream as something only happened once. Much like his father, he was terrible at Divinition. But when he had the dream for a third time- he started to ponder the significance. The past week, the dream had occurred every night. It was driving him over the edge. Boys his age were supposed to fall asleep and have dreams about seducing their classmates and sometimes older birds into a tangled haze that turned into sticky sheets and a sweaty brow upon awakening. Instead he was looking down at his infant self as his father confessed that he was a killer. And to not talk about it. Was it real? A repressed memory of sorts? Or was it just a distorted fantasy trying to fool his mind into becoming some sort of ___Oedipus complex case? He shuddered at the thought of trying to shag his own mum. Something was wrong, he hoped it wasn't himself._

This is my first attempt at a Harry Potter fic. I've always liked to think of Harry as a person with an inner darkness that could never be revealed in order to protect his loved ones, much like the character of Dexter Morgan from the Showtime series. Let me know what you all think- good, bad and indifferent.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all credit goes to JKR

Chapter 2

Ginny hummed a tune to herself as she waved her wand over the stack of dirty pans from breakfast. Her three teenage children were sitting at the table, stuffing their faces and ignoring each other. Ginny was always astonished by her children's silence in the morning. Breakfast at the Burrow had always been a noisy and active affair, Fred and George always made sure of that. The memory of her deceased brother brought a quick wave of sadness over her vibrant demeanor, but that was quickly pushed aside as the door opened.

"Harry! You're back early!!" Ginny exclaimed while gliding towards him. The children let out groans of disgust as their middle aged parents kissed each other deeply.

"Is there any more breakfast left, I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday." He shrugged off his outer robe, revealing wrinkled green shirt and cargo pants that he had been wearing everyday for a week.

"Where did you go anyway?" James asked from the table. Harry rolled his eyes, he had told his eldest child at least six times where he would be all week.

"I was in America for most of the mission actually. A Scottish pureblood couple decided it would be fun to go on a worldwide tour, hexing muggles."

"Awful, just awful." Ginny clucked as she handed her husband a mug of coffee.

"Yes, quite. Luckily their neighbors told us that had family in America that was putting them up for a week. Tracking them down was easy, but then they had us apparating all over the damn country. Finally caught them yesterday, but I had to wait all day for a portkey back home."

"Where are they now?" Lily asked. At age thirteen she heavily resembled her mother, which only made Harry nervous about watching her back to Hogwarts. Those horny third years would be all over her, maybe even a few older boys as well.

"Azkaban, of course. But not for long, if the defense lawyer has his way." Harry glowered. He watched far too many dark wizards get off easy on heinous crimes. He turned to his second born son. "You've been quiet Al, everything alright?"

Albus, who had been thinking about the dream again, snapped to attention. He eyed his father, wondering if had ever killed anyone on a mission. Perhaps a question that would be better asked in private.

"Yeah, just tired. I got up early and couldn't fall back asleep." He lied.

"That happens to me sometimes, but I just give a few jerks of the old love muscle and-"

"James Sirius!! I will not have such language at the breakfast table." Ginny yelled while charming a dirty dish towel to smack her seventeen year old son in the face.

"-sleep like a baby." James whispered with a wink.

"That is so gross." Lily sneered.

"How do you know what they're talking about?" Harry asked his daughter suspiciously.

"Could we please not talk about wanking in the kitchen?" Ginny asked, exasperated.

"This is getting weird." Albus stood up from the table and headed towards the living room.

"Where are you going?" Ginny asked, with her hands on her hips.

"I'm going to Teddy's flat for a bit."

"Does Teddy know this?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I owled him yesterday." He paused, remembering a thought from earlier. "Hey mum, could you give me a trim later today. Definitely need one before school starts."

"Of course Al, tell Teddy I said hi." Albus nodded and reached for a hand full of floo powder. Harry watched as his son was engulfed in the green flames and spun away into nothing.

"So, what are you two doing today? Lovely day really, it'd be a shame to waste it inside."

"Like you and mum will?" James said under his breath.

"What was that, son?"

"Uh, I think I'm gonna meet up with Henry and go over some plays for the season." James said quickly. He had been a beater for the Gryffindor quidditch team since his third year and had a good shot at becoming captain in his final year at Hogwarts.

"Great. What about you Tiger Lily?" Harry eyed his daughter. Lily scoffed at the childhood nickname and swept her long red hair over one shoulder.

"I'm meeting Rose in Diagon Alley in a half hour. Speaking of which, I should get ready." She excused herself quickly and stampeded upstairs.

"Don't worry, we'll be out of your hair soon enough." James winked at his parents as he too walked upstairs to his room. Ginny waited until she heard both doors closed before saying-

"Sometimes I think sloths move faster than those kids."

"Relax love, you're just horny." Harry said while nuzzling her neck with his stubbly cheeks. Ginny gasped at the feeling of his rough face.

"If I'm horny, I don't even want to think about what you are." She whispered while massaging his hardness through his pants.

"They won't be that long." Harry whispered while sliding his hand up her back and beneath her blouse. "We could just use a silencing charm, a locking charm. There will be no further interruptions." He promised.

"James can do magic now, Harry. He can just disable the charms."

"I'd be a bit worried if he did. What kind of child wants to walk in their parents having sex?"

"Let's just drop the subject." Ginny murmured. She brought his face down in a hard kiss while raking her hands through his hair. Harry in turn reached down to cup her bum and pull her closer to him, being sure to roll his hips just how she liked. A muffled gasp from Ginny only encouraged him further, completely forgetting that they were in the kitchen with two of their children still present in the house. He pulled away from her mouth and began kissing her neck and the sensitive skin behind her ear. The sound of footsteps on the hard wood floor went unnoticed by Harry, Ginny however nearly jumped out of his arms and turned to face the sink, busying herself in the dishes.

Harry stood confused for a moment, but then he too heard the approaching footsteps and pulled a copy of the Daily Prophet from the table and pretended to read while leaning against the counter , next to Ginny. James rounded the corner, broomstick in hand and smirked at the sight of parents.

"Well, I'm heading out now. Be back at dinner."

"We're eating at your grandparents house tonight. So make sure you come home and shower before we have to leave." Ginny reminded him.

"Okay mum. By the way, Lily wants to talk to you. Don't know why I'm telling you that, because you know she'll just start screaming for you in a-"

"MUM! Can you come here please?" Lily's voice carried downstairs.

"Told ya." James smiled. He turned towards Harry. "Dad, you might want to be less obvious and hold the newspaper so that it's not upside-down." Harry felt a wave of embarrassment, but chuckled anyway. James apparated with a flash and Lily's screams continued.

"I better take of this." Ginny said, walking to the stairs.

"Try and get her out of here quick." Harry pleaded with a quick kiss. Ginny smirked and sauntered slowly out of the room, teasing him. Now is as a good time as any Harry thought to himself. He started down the hallway towards his office and sealed the door shut behind him. He pulled out his wand tapped the hard oak of his desk several times. Out of the wood of desk, a truck rose until it hung in midair. Harry went to work quickly, disarming the many precautionary hexes he had placed on the trunk. Finally, it was safe enough to unlock with a quick Alohamora.

He pulled out a small vial of hair from his cargo pocket and pulled out the cork. He turned his attention back to the trunk and looked inside to a swirling silver vapor- just like the kind he remembered from Dumbledore's Pensieve. But this trunk was much more than that- although he was able to store and replay memories of his past killings. What made the trunk special was the other memories a piece of DNA could reveal. With each victim, he took a sample; with each sample- he was able to extract memories that once belonged to his victims. The trunk proved very useful in researching his victims past before he made a move for them. But sometimes he had to track through old crime reports and newspapers; like with Clarence McGill.

Harry smirked at the memory of Clarence's stunned face right before he drove an icepick through his breastbone. He was an old man and didn't take long to die; Harry was half-sure that the old bastard had a heart attack just lying on the table. _That's what you get for knocking off neighborhood paperboys_, Harry thought to himself. He had found several small bodies in the old man's cellar. A newspaper article he had stumbled upon announced the disappearance of several boys over the past few months- all them paperboys with the same route. Replacing each other before reaching their own downfall at the hands of Clarence article had been a blessing, the urge had been growing strong without a single kill over the course of six months. _Six months!!_ Thought Harry. Much too long to go without feeding the beast.

Of course, he had to extend his time away from home. He had tracked down the couple and made an arrest after four days in America. A simple sleeping draught and muggle motel room with multiple protection charms kept them in place for the next two days while Harry went on a "personal mission" to bring Clarence McGill to justice. _I really should've been a Slytherin_ Harry smirked to himself. _So easily deceiving the Ministry, the Auror department and my family._

He tipped the vial above the trunk and let the thin strands of hair dissolve into the silver vapor. As much as he wanted to replay the full memory of Clarence's downfall (as well as a few of the "greatest hits") he instead closed the trunk and performed the necessary protection hexes before allowing it to disappear back into his desk. He didn't have to time to reminisce, Clarence's life might be over, but his was still moving forward. He had to go on and fulfill his duties as a husband and father while trying to control his natural urges, until it became time to find a new target.

Ginny's voice called his attention back to the real world. He opened his office door to see his wife standing with her hands on hips and a blazing look on her face. "Keeping me waiting, Potter?"

"Oh, did Lily leave?" he asked.

"Yes, a full thirty seconds ago." Ginny stated.

"And you're _still_ dressed?" He asked jokingly. Ginny pulled on the collar of his shirt and breathed in his scent.

"You could use a shower." She murmured. Harry smiled, liking the direction this was going in. He kissed her deeply and then dragged her off to the master bathroom.

* * *

_Just a few weeks shy of sixteen, Harry Potter watched his latest target rummaging through rubbish bins, scattering garbage everywhere. Filth. For a homeless man, he was very fat. Which made sense because whenever Harry passed by him before the disgusting oaf was stuffing his face with cheap pastries while smoking cigarettes he begged of somebody._

_ Harry looked down at his watch and knew that he didn't have much time. It was only a little after ten o'clock in the evening and he had get back to Privet Drive by midnight to meet Professor Dumbledore. He wouldn't have time to savor this one, perhaps his last kill for a while. He seriously doubted he could get away with murder behind the walls of Hogwarts. No, he had to work fast and efficiently. Stalk, Capture, Kill- the three steps of any murder. He usually spaced them out, taking time to drag the victim to a different location to be killed. But this fat old maggot would just have to die where he stood._

_ Without a sound or a warning, Harry lunged forward and took hold of his dirty shoulder, spinning him in a half circle. He always liked to see his victims face when they took their last breaths. He also wanted the last thing they ever saw was him- a supposed hero from a whole different world lowering himself to the activities of a criminal, a threat towards human life. _

_The vagabond barely had time to sputter out a shocked gasp. Harry already had his knife stuck in the vagrant's throat, severing his __carotid artery, killing him quickly. He pulled back on his arm and watched the dirty form crumble to the ground, bleeding all over the garbage he had been throwing to the ground. Harry examined his clothing and hands, ensuring that no blood had spilt on him. He didn't have to do anything about the body. Eventually, someone would find the corpse and maybe they'd report it to the police and they would make a point to ignore it, since it was just a homeless person. Or of course, there was always the deranged intellectuals who found the corpses and kept them for their own experiments and dissections. The former was probably a more frequent occurrence._

_The dark haired boy made his way home, sleep on his mind. He always slept soundly after a kill- no nightmares about Sirius or visions instilled by Voldemort. Unfortunately, he only managed an hour of sleep before Dumbledore whisked him away to sweet talk Professor Slughorn and then off to the Burrow to wait out the rest of the summer; "killing time" would now have a different meaning for him. After what seemed like forever, Harry laid his weary head down in Fred and George's old room where sleep came almost instantly._

_A loud bang, a flash of light and quick slap to the head- and it was all over. Harry rolled over and to his great delight (and annoyance) saw his best friends, Ron and Hermione, talking excitedly to him. Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked back and forth between his best friends. Hermione was giving him a curious look, most likely to search him for feelings of grief over Sirius. Could she tell anything other than that? Would she know that he was a murderer just by looking at him? Did he give off the essence of a predator? Ron had already turned his attention to a box of his brother's experimental gags. Nothing to worry about there. But Hermione, she could spot a change in his demeanor from a mile away. _

_He made a mental note to watch himself in front of Hermione; in front of everyone really…_

* * *

Albus stumbled out of the sooty fireplace and into the messy living room of Teddy's flat. The twenty-three year old Metamorphmagus was an Auror in his godfather's department at the ministry. Albus had known Teddy his entire life and thought of him as an (nicer) older brother. His father had been Teddy's godfather since he was seventeen, when Teddy's parents died in Voldemort's second war.

"Teddy?" He called out to an empty room. He looked around at the scattered magazines and rumpled socks on the floor. Two dirty wine glasses sat on the coffee table accompanied by several empty bottles. Albus turned around to the couch and noticed the pile of clothing. He was able to recognize a plaid shirt that he had seen Teddy wear before, but then he saw the lace bra… "Bloody hell." He muttered. Victorie must be here. His eldest cousin and Teddy had been dating since they were in Hogwarts.

A loud bang and muttered swear words alerted Albus. A very ruffled looking Teddy stumbled into the living room. He was shirtless and wearing pajama bottoms. His usually turqiouse hair turned into a flushing magenta when he noticed that he was not alone in the room. A blush spread down to his cheeks as he checked his wristwatch.

"Sorry about the mess, Al. I just got up if you haven't noticed." He grinned cockily. Albus sighed.

"Is my cousin here? Please make sure she doesn't wonder out here in her knickers while I'm around." Albus pleaded. It was bad enough he knew that Teddy was shagging his cousin, he didn't to see physical evidence.

"Not a problem mate. Her knickers are right there!" he pointed with a chuckle to the armrest of the couch. Albus glared at him. Teddy's laughter stopped and his hair changed back to it's usual hue. He turned and walked down the hallway to his bedroom. Albus wasn't able to hear what they were saying, only distant mutters. Teddy returned, dressed in jeans and a striped button-down shirt. He fished out his wand and wallet from the slacks on the floor. After pocketing the essentials, he pulled out a cigarette from behind his ear and motioned Albus to follow him out the door. With the door closed behind them, Teddy lit his cigarette with his wand and walked out into muggle London with Albus on his heels.

"Victorie wanted to sleep for a little while, so I figured we better move this party elsewhere, as not to wake her."

"Whipped." Albus smirked.

"At least I got someone who wants to get me whipped…among other things." He leered at the younger boy.

"Let's drop that subject and move on to the reason I'm here." Albus said quickly. He was horrible when it came to girls. His brother James had been dating since his fourth year. Albus had yet to even ask a girl out to Hogsmede. What's worse, his parents had noticed and talked to him about it when he came home for the summer. His dad told him not worry about it, that he was never great with girls at that didn't improve his outlook.

"Okay, what did you want to tell me about?" Teddy asked. He steered them towards the door of a muggle café. "Have you had breakfast yet?" Teddy asked

"Yes."

"Well get ready for round two." He said as they took a seat in a booth at the far end of the room. "Continue."

"I keep having the same dream over and over again."

"For how long?" Teddy asked.

"Couple of months. I used only have it once in a while, but now I have it every night."

"Mate," Teddy said while toying with his silverware, "just ask the girl out. It's not that complicated."

"It's not _that_ kind of dream Ted." Albus snarled. Teddy's eye's widened as the younger wizard's tone.

"Really?"

"Yes, really." Teddy, rubbed his temple and sighed. He was about to say something, but a waitress swooped in and poured coffee into their empty mugs. Teddy took the time to place his order, ensuring that there would be fewer interruptions.

"What happened? In your dream?" Teddy asked. Albus recounted the events that plagued his mind at night. He described watching his father cradle his infant form and whisper that he was a killer. Teddy looked unsurprised for the most part.

"Well?" Albus urged.

"Well what?"

"What do you think about it? What does it mean?"

"I don't know mate." Teddy groaned. "I was never good at Divinition and keeping dream journals."

"Yeah, same here. But what I'm more wondering about is my dad."

"What about your dad?" Teddy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you think he's ever killed anyone?"

"He killed Voldemort when he was 17 didn't he?" Teddy asked in a mocking tone. Albus had rolled his eyes. His father was always reluctant to talk about his part in the war in front of him and his siblings. Most of what Albus learned about the war had been in his History of Magic classes, when he wasn't asleep of course. It seemed inane to him that the child of the war's most famous veteran knew so little about the event itself.

"Well, yes. Everyone knows that." _But not the whole picture_ he thought to himself. "I mean do think he's ever killed anyone while working as an auror? It's possible right? You guys take on evil wizards tossing around unforgivable spells." Teddy took a long sip of his coffee and looked over at the waitress as if to question where his order was. He didn't quite know how to handle this question with a child. But Albus wasn't exactly a child at fifteen years old, Teddy could see wispy hairs already sprouting out of his chin. And the fact that this was the son of someone who had practically raised him made the situation rather tender.

"Well, yeah. Over the years you always get a few cases where the auror on the case had to take down a criminal wizard out of self-defense; but we never really talk about it. It just gets jotted down in the massive amounts of paperwork that follow." Teddy explained.

"Have you ever killed a dark wizard on the job?" Albus inquired.

"No." Teddy said rather sternly.

"Do you think my dad has? Had he ever said anything?" Teddy held his tongue. This conversation was reaching grounds that he really didn't feel comfortable stomping on. A momentary distraction came when the waitress set down a plate of eggs and toast in front of Teddy and refilled both their mugs. Teddy, although having lost his appetite over the past few seconds, grabbed a piece of toast and started chowing down.

"Teddy? Your ignoring my question." Albus pointed out. "Seriously Ted, I really need to find closure on this…this thing. These dreams are driving me mad!" Albus pleaded. Teddy swallowed hard and said-

"I really don't know Al. He's never mentioned it to me and I've never asked. All I can tell is, if he ever has killed someone, on the job of course, that it is justified. The people we chase after, they aren't just amateurs trying to have a little fun with crime. We save the pranksters screwing around with Muggles to the Ministry officials. The folks we're after- they kill entire families, magical and muggle, they torture innocent people, and they are not afraid to throw a killing curse at someone just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everyone we arrest _deserves_ to die, Azkaban is just much worse." Teddy could feel a cold sweat at the base of his neck. Albus was looking at him intently, lips parted slightly.

"So, my dad has never mentioned killing anyone?"

"No Albus, he hasn't." Albus sighed and rubbed his temples in frustration. "Then what does this dream mean? And for that matter is dad even telling the truth?! He never even talks about the second war and how he killed Voldemort. Mum, Aunt Hermione, and Uncle Ron won't even tell me and they were there! And what happened when hewas living in a tent for nine months hunting down whatever those…things were?"

"Horcruxes." Teddy added.

"Whatever! Either way, should I talk to dad about it? Should I ask him more about the war and tell him about my dream?"

"Look Albus, there's something you need to realize about war. And I'm not just talking about the war your father was in but all wars. Muggle and Magical." Teddy said sternly. Albus's eyes widened slightly. Teddy never spoke in such a tone before. "People who watch war, or fight in a war…they see things. They see pain and death and destruction. Things that leave can them having nightmares for a long while after the war is over. And as for talking about what they saw; they usually don't. It's easier to repress shit than talking about it. Not exactly healthy, but easier." Teddy was glaring at the younger boy when he finished talking. Albus glared back.

"How would you know? _You've_ never fought in a war. You were just a baby when dad killed Voldemort."

"That's true. But I lost both my parents to the war. I have no memory of either of them. Not to mention, the people I grew up around, who raised me- your dad, your mum's entire family- they were all quite present during the war. I could see that. Even when I was just a kid I could see how much the war had taken away from them. Your grandmother lost a child, my grandmother lost her husband and daughter and son-in-law, and your dad…he had been losing people before the war even really kicked into full gear." Teddy hissed. His hands were pressed down on the table, to keep from shaking. His hair began to change colors slightly, but stopped and remained the same turquoise hue. Teddy was always in control of his morphing abilities in the presence of muggles. Albus sniffed loudly and cleared his throat while still maintaining a scowl on his face. He looked down at his hands and let his expression soften. He wasn't really sure what to say. He wasn't in the mood to talk anymore, as was Teddy.

"Well, thanks for talking to me Ted." Albus stood up from his place in the booth and searched his pockets for some muggle cash. He threw down a couple quid for the coffee and looked back at Teddy. "I'm sorry for getting you all riled up. I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't mate." Teddy smiled weakly. "Do you need me to let you back into the flat? Victorie is probably still dead asleep." _The girl sleeps like a brick_ he thought to himself.

"No thanks. The Ministry isn't that far away from here. I can just use one of the public floo portals. See you." Albus didn't wait for Teddy to return his good bye. He was out the door in a flash. Teddy sighed and stared down at his cold eggs. Now he _really_ wasn't hungry anymore. He felt a bit bad about what he had told Albus. But technically, he didn't lie to him. Harry had never talked about killing anyone on the job. But that didn't exactly mean it never happened. Teddy thought back to a few years ago when he just out of his training and going on missions with senior Aurors… 

_Harry wasn't exactly excited about going on a dangerous Auror mission with his godson, even if the boy was first in his class. His mother would've been very proud of such a feat. His discomfort in working with Teddy lied in the personal relationship they had outside of the office. Harry had been somewhat of a father-figure to this boy since he was seventeen. He just didn't feel that family members should work together in such a situation. There was just too much…emotional attachment._

_ But the Auror who was originally assigned to the mission had gotten injured during his previous trip and was in St. Mungos for a week. All of the other senior Aurors were already working on high priority cases. Just because Harry was Head of the department, didn't excuse him from going on missions. He had no choice but to accompany Teddy on what was merely the young man's fourth mission._

_Tracking down the perpetrator had been easy with the tracking charm he had placed on his wand. A new standard ordered for all wands in the UK under Ministry order. But getting the crazy bastard to drop his wand or for that matter,and stop torturing an elderly muggle man, force was needed._

_They had tried with a few disarming spells and moved on to hexes, as was the protocol for dealing dangerous maniacs. But the perpetrator, Brannon Minkle, wasn't slowing down at all. He continued to administer the __Cruciatus__curse on the old man while intermittingly throwing the same curse at Harry and Teddy._

_ Teddy was desperately trying to keep from getting hit by any of the bastard's curses. He looked towards Harry for instructions, but Harry was not paying any attention to young Auror. With a strong wave of his wand, Minkle was thrown hard against the wall and sunk to the floor...a sickening spray of red marked where he had summoned his fallen wand before even hit the floor. Teddy could only stare in confusion as he watched Harry place a sleeping charm on the old man. He began casting a few healing charms on the man, who would soon need to be obliviated._

_Teddy noticed that Minkle wasn't moving from his position on the floor, he walked over to examine him and nearly vomited on the spot. His throat was sliced open, a waterfall of blood stained the front of his robes. The mark on the wall was not caused by force of impact, he had been cut before he went down. His eyes were open and glazed over, an obvious indicator of his death._

_"Harry…he's dead."_

_"I'm just following protocol, Ted. There's no need to hold a memorial service for that piece of shit." Harry spat. He revived the old man and quickly cast a memory charm. "You were reading a book and fell asleep in your arm chair. You will wake up again and think this in twenty minutes." Harry said plainly._

_"Ok." The old man answered. As if nothing ever happened. As if he was never tortured, as if the man who did it wasn't currently lying dead in a puddle of his own blood. Harry flicked his wand and the man fell back asleep._ _ Harry turned his attention to Minkle and began scourgifying the stained blood from his clothes and the floor. He found a plastic grocery bag on the floor and transfigured it into long black bag. Something that could fit Minkle's corpse._

_"What was that spell you used on him?" Teddy asked._

_ "A severing charm. It's not considered an unforgivable, but it can kill someone."_

_ "Yes it can." Teddy said with a nod._

_"Help me get him in the bag and then we'll apparate to the Mungo's morgue and then back to the office. If we work fast we get all the paperwork for this done and get out of there before the pubs close." Teddy helped him stuff Minkle's body into the bag and then did a onceover for any remaining hexes and spots of blood. Harry busied himself by repairing the wardrobe that Minkle had set on fire during his earlier antics._

_Teddy didn't mention Minkle or the charm that ended his life for the rest of the night. He knew Harry would never bring it up. The entire situation left him a bit shaken, and he felt the need to talk about it to someone who knew Harry, but wouldn't make him out to be a criminal. He had shown no remorse for what he did, he acted as if it was human instinct. He wasn't even breathing hard._

_But his hopes of finding closure were dashed during a conversation with Ron during a lunch break. Ron described the subject of Auror's killing criminals as taboo. You didn't talk about it, simple as that. He also let it be known that Harry had seen a lot more disturbing things over the years and knew how to handle himself. Ron said that Teddy should learn how to do the same, on his own, as every other Auror had. _

Teddy snapped out of the memory and realized that he had been sitting there for quite a while now, not touching his food. He rummaged through his pockets and threw a couple bills onto the table before exiting the restaurant quickly. By the time he reached his flat, Victoirie was gone, a note left in place promising to floo him that night. Teddy was slightly grateful to come home to empty home. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 3

Harry's peaceful slumber was broken by the slamming of a door and various voices and shrieks. He groaned and nuzzled his head further into the crook of his wife's neck. The kids were home. Ginny remained sleeping despite the constant stomping of footsteps on the stairs. The woman could sleep through a hurricane.

He rolled over on his side to check the bedside clock. 5:04 in the evening. Harry remained unsurprised by the late time. After a bit of shower sex, he and Ginny had spent the rest of the morning and a good part of the afternoon in bed, but not sleeping. If his memory was correct, they passed out around 3 o'clock from their strenuous activities and lack of lunch. Harry rolled over to face Ginny and pulled the sheets down slightly. Thin scratches of red stood out from her pale freckled skin. He grinned, happy that Ginny didn't mind his well-meaning roughness during sex. He could be gentle as well, but Ginny always seemed to get frustrated and impatient when he took it slow. What started out as slow love-making turned into a hard, sweaty pounding with force on both sides. Harry bucking his hips as hard as he could, Ginny thrusting her hips upwards to match his rhythm, deepening penetration.

Harry knew his fondness for rough sex somehow stemmed from his lust for killing. Both acts were essentially about control; but were often interpreted through contrasting terms. As for Ginny, she (like the rest of the Weasleys) was cursed with a constant horniness. _How else could Molly and Arthur end up seven kids? _Harry thought.

With a loud groan, Harry rolled out of bed and threw on a pair boxers. He stretched his arms and padded into his closet in search of clean clothing. After throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweater he walked back into the bedroom to see a still slumbering Ginny. He didn't want to wake her, but they were eating dinner at the Burrow tonight with the entire Weasley clan.

"Gin…time to get up." He whispered in her ear, trailing a string of kisses on her neck.

"Mmmm…did the kids ever get home?" Harry smiled. _Forever the protective mother._

"They just got back from the sound of it. I envy you sometimes Weasley, I wish I could sleep through a loud, natural disaster of some sort." He said mockingly. Ginny smiled coyly.

"Are you implying that our children are a 'natural disaster'? Need I remind you who brought that disaster upon the world?" she pointed accusingly at him, Harry did the same.

"Agree to disagree?" Harry grinned. Ginny pushed back the covers and popped out of bed. She flung her naked form into Harry and wrapped her arms around him.

"Not likely." She whispered before attacking his mouth with her own. She drove her tongue past his lips and thrashed it about while rubbing his back, working her way lower. Harry reluctantly grabbed her shoulders, despite his semi-hard cock and broke away.

"We have to get ready for dinner at your parent's place." He murmured into her ear.

"Come on love, just a quick one." she urged while rubbing him through his jeans.

"You know I don't do 'quick ones'." He joked and stepped back. "I'm gonna go tell the kids to get ready. We should get out of here by 5:30, but realistically we'll be on our way at six."

"Luckily that will be the same case for the rest of my siblings, except Charlie of course. But mum is aware of that fact and can adjust her cooking times easily." Ginny explained.

"I'll see you in a bit." Harry said while turning to the door.

"I love you." Ginny called out to his retreating form. Harry was already closing the door behind him but stopped midway and turned around.

"I love you too." He returned before shutting the door and turning around to see a snickering James.

"Aw, my parents still love each other, yay!" He said in his most playful tone.

"So then you guys aren't getting divorced. I had been wondering you know? With you always working late at the office or going on out-of-country missions and hardly being at home-"

"Don't talk like that James. Your mother and I have a fine marriage." He started walking down the stairs to check on his other children with James on heels. "And I haven't had to work a late night at the office in several years thanks to the new intern program in the Auror department." He added. James laughed.

"I was just taking the mick out of you, dad. It's been a long week without you around. When Mum gets home from work, she has to use us for entertainment." He winked. Harry heaved a fake sigh and walked into the kitchen where his daughter and niece were sipping butterbeer and gossiping.

"Hey dad!" Lily chirped. She was in a much better mood than that morning.

"Hi Uncle Harry. " Rose said politely. She really was the spitting image of her mother. Polite to her elders, smart as a whip, and bushy hair. Although he noticed that Rose's hair looked a bit smoother than the last time he saw her. Just as well, Hermione's hair had tamed itself when she entered her teen years.

"Lily, Rose- how was Diagon Alley? Get anything good?"

"Well, besides all my supplies for school, I also picked up a few books for light reading as well as an O.W.L. study guide." Rose stated.

"Nice to see that you're taking preparation for O. seriously. I don't think Albus is even aware that he has to take those this year." Harry joked. Rose laughed. "What about you Lil?"

"I got some new dress robes." She said while rummaging through a bag and pulling out flowing robes of green silk. She held them up. "What do you think?"

"I like the color, it'll look good on you." He said truthfully while anxiously thinking- _If only it could cover her up a bit more._ The cut seemed much too…skimpy for a thirteen year old. Desperate to change the subject, Harry asked-

"Is Albus back yet?"

"I saw him stomp of into his room about fifteen minutes ago." James said simply while raiding the fridge.

"I'm gonna go tell him to get ready. James put that chicken down, we're about to eat dinner at your grandparents. " he chastised his son.

"Well I better floo home to drop my things off. I'll see you all in a little bit." Rose said while gathering up her bags and walking to the fireplace in the living room to floo home.

Harry walked upstairs to his youngest son's room; he could already hear his music blasting from the bottom of the stairs. His door was covered with various stickers and posters, much like his siblings. A signed photograph of his favorite quidditch team; the Wimbourne Wasps. Although Harry had no problem with the Wasps, he was no fan of one of their greatest beaters- Ludo Bagman. Besides various magazine clippings, Albus's door was also littered with Slytherin pennants and stickers. Harry was not surprised to find out that his son had been placed into Slytherin by the sorting hat; he was after all the child that most resembled him- physically and emotionally. Luckily, Albus didn't have his curse. He knocked on the door, the music that had been playing stopped.

"Who is it?" Albus called out.

"It's your dad."

"Come in." Harry twisted the doorknob and pushed his way into Albus's room. His son was sprawled across his bed, reading a book. "I just came up to tell you that we'll be leaving for the Burrow soon."

"Okay, I'll be ready." Albus said, turning a page.

"How's Teddy?" Harry asked. Even though he saw Teddy everyday at work.

"He's ok. We got some coffee, talked a bit." Albus mumbled. He didn't want to think about his conversation with Teddy right now.

"Is that all you did today?" Harry asked.

"Teddy had to get back to- I mean, he had to meet up with Victorie." Albus corrected himself. Harry rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to hide anything about their relationship from me, Al. I'm not your uncle Bill, although I'm sure he would kick Teddy's ass if he knew that his daughter was sleeping there every night." Harry quipped. Albus looked slightly shocked. "But then again, that's a Weasley man for you." Albus laughed lightly.

"I spent the rest of the day…just walking around Muggle London, Clearing my head…"

"Enjoying some solitude?" Harry asked.

"You could say that." Harry nodded. "

Sometimes, people need to be alone for a little bit. Not to shut yourself off from the world necessarily, but rather to open up to yourself." Harry mused. Albus, bit his lip- not knowing what to say. _Should I ask him?_ He thought to himself.

"Well, I'll see you downstairs. Try to come down in ten minutes okay? I'd at least like to try to leave on time." Harry turned towards the door. _Ask him! _He took the knob in his hand. _Don't do it._ He pulled and put one foot in the hallway. _Do it._

"Dad! Wait!" Albus leapt off his bed to try and catch his father. Harry stopped on the spot and turned on his heel quickly.

"What's up?"

"Can I ask you something?" Albus queried. Harry wrinkled his brow.

"Sure. Fire away." Harry smiled. He closed the door quietly to allow for some privacy. Albus bit his lip in hesitance.

"It's kind of…personal."

"Oh…well then, er-"

"It's not about sex, Dad." Albus said quickly. Lord no, he didn't want to know anything that personal about his own father. Harry let out a chuckle of amused relief.

"Okay then, what did you want to ask me?" Albus inhaled deeply and looked directly at his father. Green eyes meeting green. The moment of truth

"Have you ever killed anyone? I mean besides Voldemort, like as an Auror?" He didn't know quite what to expect his father's reaction to be. He had imagined different scenarios. For instance- a sharp intake of breath, followed by a muttered excuse to change the subject or run off to an appointment. Maybe his expression would turn dark before telling him off that it was none of his damn business. Maybe he would draw out his wand… But Harry did none of those things. To Albus's utter amazement and confusion, Harry sighed and smiled lightly. _Smiled?_

"Well Al, as any Auror can tell you- the chance of being attacked on a mission is 100%. While disarming spells and shields are helpful in that situation, it is sometimes necessary to use some of the more darker hexes. None of the Unforgivables mind you, but something that will not only disarm, but contain the suspect." Harry explained. Auror handbook, word for word. "While none of the hexes used by Aurors kill instantly, they can certainly lead to an injury that will leave him dead if not treated immediately."

"Okay…." Albus began, "But have you ever killed any suspects?"

"Unfortunately son, by law I cannot release any information about any missions or arrests that happen in the Auror Department. Not to you, not your Mum, not to the press."

"But, your head of the department!" Albus exclaimed

"Yes, but the higher-ups at the Ministry control the department for the most part. I just babysit." Harry joked. Albus raised an eyebrow. "The Ministry, they like to keep our business a secret form the public. They don't want everyone freaking out about dark wizards on the loose."

"So, you're bound by secrecy?"

"Yes." Harry nodded. Albus looked down at his sneakers, feeling somewhat stupid. "Well, I'm gonna go see how your mum is coming along." He walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Albus sat down on his bed and buried his face on his hands. If his father couldn't tell him the truth, how would he ever know? What if the dreams suddenly stopped and this had all just been a hallucination and found himself waking up in St. Mungos tomorrow?

That night, he had the dream again.

* * *

Harry closed the door to Albus's room and looked around to make sure the hallway was clear. He smirked a smirk that would make Draco Malfoy vomit. It hadn't been easy, lying to his son's face. He was usually very perceptive, much like Ginny. Then again it was hard to lie to Ginny too, but he did, and it worked.

Most of what he said had been bullshit. He wasn't allowed to talk to the press about his missions, but there was no rule forbidding him from telling his family. He was surprised that Albus accepted the lie so quickly, the boy could spot his brother's lies a mile away. But then again, James was a horrid liar, the reddened ears always gave him away. Harry had spent most of life lying to those closest to him. He lied about his mental well-being, he lied about where he would sneak off to at night, he lied about feeling sad about death. It's not that he didn't care; but rather, he couldn't feel. Cedric's death was a shock; he played on that at first, then anger- _survivor's guilt_. He looked up the term in an old psychology book.

Sirius's death was odd to deal with. The man was the closest thing he to his parent's past. But then again he barely knew the man to begin with. As for Dumbledore, he put on a sad face for the funeral, after that it was all business and fulfilling his destiny.

Harry looked down at wristwatch and realized that he had wanted to leave 10 minutes ago. He walked into his bedroom to see if Ginny was ready only to find that she was still in the shower. A typical occurrence, but expected.

Why had Albus asked such a question anyway? Was he depressed? Suspicious? Curious? Or was he just like him? Had the murder chromosome been let loose into his own gene pool? Maybe Teddy mentioned something that would Albus to ask him. Maybe not. There was only one way to tell for sure. Harry didn't feel threatened by Albus's bluntness, but he always had to stay on his toes when it came subjects like killing.

* * *

_ On a summer night in 1998, Vernon Dursley stepped out of his office at Grunnings for what would be the final time. Not that he was aware that of course. For the first time in sixteen years, Vernon could truly say that life was pleasantly normal. Dudley was getting ready for University and Vernon himself had been recently promoted. But what significantly improved his life was the absence of his freakish nephew. Was he still alive? Was he dead? Vernon didn't know and didn't care. Petunia claimed the same thing, but he figured different- she had always had a soft spot for that sister of hers. _

_Either way, the boy was gone for good._

_ Vernon hummed thoughtlessly as he walked through the empty lobby of Grunnings towards the elevator. The sight of an 'out of order' sign made him curse. He would have to use the stairs to get the underground parking garage; the very thought of those stairs made his thighs chaff._

_ He opened the steel door to the stairs and started his journey down, unaware of the quiet footsteps that followed him. He let the door close behind him and walked down the first set of stairs only to reach the bottom and turn around suspiciously to see that the door was still open part way. An impossible feat- the door was solid steel and could slam shut on its own. It was like something was blocking the door. As if an invisible force had just wedged itself between._

_ "Petrifus Totalis!!" an invisible voice yelled. Vernon felt his body stiffen. He couldn't lift a single finger, or for that matter his lips. His body weight lurched forward and fell with a sickening crack against the bottom step; blood poured into a pool from his shattered nose._

_ "Hello Uncle Vernon. Let me help you out with that." Vernon felt his body being lifted into the air and spun around, facing the ceiling. His nephew's face came into view. He held up his stick and whispered- "Finite". His body slackened, but he was still suspended in the air, unable to touch the ground with his feet. The pain from his nose was suddenly forgotten. _

_"Wh-What are you doing here boy?!" _

_ "Just thought I'd pop in, see how you were." The boy smirked. _

_"If you're looking for a place to live, forget it. We already converted the second bedroom into a weight room for Dudley. And you're far too big to fit in the cupboard under the stairs." _

_"Don't worry about me, I got a place."_

_ "Then I suppose it's money you want isn't it?" Vernon growled. "Get a god damn job making broomsticks or something! You can't have everything in life just handed to you."_

_"It's not money, I want dear uncle. It's your life." _

_"What!" Vernon screamed. _

_"Did I stutter?" Harry smirked. "Consider it payback for taking away my childhood." His expression darkened. "Could've made things easier for yourself Vernon. You could have just dropped me off at an orphanage. Hell, a bunch of government employees could raise a child better than you." He snarled. "Of course, you could have done something just as easy and treated me civilly!" _

_"You're not worthy of special treatment, boy." Vernon growled._

_ "Civil treatment and special treatment are two very different things you retarded horse-fucker!!" Harry grinned. _

_"Why you-" Vernon's threats were cut short when Harry held up his wand._

_ "What, going to wave your little wand and leave me dead? Can't even kill me like a real person, like a man." _

_"Oh don't worry Vernon. You'll die a normal death." Harry flicked his wand and Vernon fell onto the concrete floor with a hard slap. He stumbled to get up, to grab the boy by the neck and wring the life out of him. But his heavy form was slow to move, and his right elbow felt like it was just as broken as his nose. When he finally did get on his feet, Harry was ready and waiting, holding a cricket bat he had nicked from Dudley's room an hour ago. He swung hard against the side of Vernon's head, and the old man was yet again, on the floor._

_ "That belongs to Dudley! What did you do to him? What did you do to my wife?!" he cried. _

_"Nothing. They weren't home when I stopped by. Still alive and well I assume, not that you'll be seeing them again." Harry brought the bat down again and again against Vernon's skull. Blood splattered against the dull concrete walls. But it wasn't enough for Harry. He didn't plan on stopping until he saw brain matter. _

_When he finally was finished, Vernon's face was unrecognizable. Harry chuckled to himself and pulled out a small glass vile from his jean pocket. He levitated a bit of blood from a puddle near his foot and let it descend in the vial. After sealing and pocketing his "trophy", he kneeled down beside his uncle and went through his pockets. _

_There wasn't much money in Vernon's wallet. About thirty pounds, not enough to go on a shopping spree, but enough for a good meal. The first one that Vernon ever provided for him. Better yet, when somebody discovered the battered corpse with no wallet, they would expect it was merely a cruel mugging- unrelated to any potential…enemies, Vernon might've had. _

_Mugging a Muggle, Harry thought to himself. It was a funny play on words. This had been Harry's first kill since the end of the war a month ago. Killing Voldemort did nothing for his primal needs; it was just a job he was responsible for. Now he could focus on his own targets, and not just the ones that fate threw at him. " _


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Teddy wiped a bead of sweat from his brow as he walked through the crowded lobby of the Ministry of Magic. A cooling charm definitely needed to be cast, the underground building always seemed to mimic the outside temperature. He stepped onto the elevator, narrowly being hit by the closing door and hit the button with the Auror seal next to it. Neither the jolting elevator or muggy air could tear him from his thoughts.

The conversation with Al was still fresh in his mind along with the aching question- should he tell Harry? If he had a son himself, and that son was asking odd questions about him behind his back, would he want to know? Hell yes, but maybe just to punish the little bugger. And he didn't want to get Albus into trouble, but he didn't think the boy was exactly well right about now.

The elevator stopped at his destination and he stepped off, making a beeline for his cubicle in the back. If he made it past Harry's office without being spotted, he would be in the clear. If he didn't see Harry, he wouldn't have to talk to Harry.

"Teddy! Could you come here a moment?" a recognizable voice called out. Teddy sighed and turned around.

"Sure Harry, what's going on?" Harry didn't say, but rather motioned him to into his office and towards a seat. Harry took a seat in the leather armchair behind his desk.

"I wanted to talk to you about Albus." Harry started. _Oh shit. _Teddy thought. "He asked me an interesting question last night. And I'm not blaming it on you, but I know that you were with him earlier yesterday."

"Yeah, I was."

"Did he seem…off to you?"

"Well, he wanted to tell me about a dream he's been having quite frequently…"

"I don't need to know that." Harry said holding a hand up.

"No Harry, it's not a wet dream." Teddy blurted. He could've just left it at that, but he had to go and defend Albus for _not_ being a normal 15 year old with racy dreams.

"Oh, okay then. Is that all he wanted to talk to you about?" Harry asked. Teddy bit his lip and Harry continued "Just let me know if I'm prying. It's just that, last night, Albus asked if I ever killed anyone while working."

"He asked me the same thing about you." Teddy said softly. Harry raised an eyebrow, and then let his face fall into a stern setting.

"What did you tell him?"

"I didn't tell him anything about Minkle."

"You remembered his name?"

"It was one of my first missions, and considering how it ended…it's rather hard to forget." Teddy's eyes morphed into a deep yellow color, his mouth pulled into a thin line.

"I was just doing my job, Ted." Harry said simply. Let Teddy throw whatever shit he wanted, Harry had dodged worse shit thrown by sharper minds. His godson was not a threat.

"I know that, Harry." Teddy conceded. His eyes changed back to their usual hazel, his challenging look replaced by one of passivity.

"So what about this dream?" Harry continued. Ted looked down at his hands. The subject matter of Al's dream was not something that Teddy wanted to discuss with anyone, especially Harry who seemed to have a starring role in Albus's nightly mental images.

"It's hard to explain…" Teddy started.

"Yeah, I was pants at diviniton too. Just tell me what Albus told you." Harry urged on calmly. Teddy stayed silent for a good few moments, contemplating his next string of words, preparing himself for Harry's reaction.

"Harry, I'm sorry. But I really don't feel comfortable talking about Al's dream, and it's not just because he's your son. Hell, I'd feel guilty telling anyone about it; it's Albus's privacy you know? He felt that he could trust me to listen and _not_ pass it on." Teddy said. Harry's calm look never faded. "If you're interested, maybe you can ask him. Just please, don't mention me." His face remained blank for a moment, as if trying to pick the right way to express itself, as if everything had to be planned. Harry sighed deeply and, much to Teddy's surprise and confusion, smiled softly.

"You're right Ted. This really isn't any of my business, and it was unprofessional of me to confront you in the office like this. I was just curious, probably too curious. But as long as Albus's dream and sudden interest in my fatality record isn't connected to anything serious; I guess I can go on living not knowing why he would ask me such things." Harry said. Teddy was a bit taken back by his nonchalant tone of voice and sudden choice to drop the subject. "I don't have anything to worry about do I, Ted? Concerning Albus of course."

"No, Harry. I think he was just curious." Teddy lied. Harry smiled and nodded.

"Well, that's a small weight off my shoulders." He picked up a stack of parchment from his desk and shoved into Teddy's hands. "Here a few new missions we might be looking into. I want you to read each one and analyze the severity of each case so we can decide where to place the new Trainees."

"Sure thing." Teddy agreed, flipping through the sheets of paper. This was a common task for him.

"Thanks Ted." Harry watched the young man exit his office. While Teddy refused to tell him about his son's dream, Harry remained nonplussed. There were other ways to figure out what was going through his son's head at night. Talking to him, for example, was always an option. Although it was a tender and awkward option at that. But Occlumency, might just provide the answer. For now, Harry wasn't too worried about it. He highly doubted that Albus suspected him for what he really was- a serial killer. If anything, the boy was just curious about the dark wizards that he had to kill in order to protect himself and society as a whole. But then again, his other hobby did the same thing, in a less than acceptable way.

* * *

Before Albus knew it, September first had come and he was to report back to Hogwarts for his fifth year. He lay in bed, fully dressed with his trunk packed and at the ready next to the door. He could hear the normal sounds of panic that erupted in the house every year on this day. Lily's shrill voice echoed along the hallways as she searched rampantly for her favorite jumper while his father's gruff voice shouted at James to get out of bed and pack his trunk. A soft knock at the door broke Albus out his thoughts. He sat up and ran a hand through his ruffled hair.

"Come in." he called out. The door opened slowly, and his mother stepped in smiling softly, closing the door behind her.

"Are you all set?" It was a stupid question to ask. Albus was always so organized when it came to traveling.

"Yep. Just waiting on the rest." He made a gesture to the hallway, where his sibling's angry voices could be heard.

"Good." Ginny sat down on the bed beside her son. "Is everything alright, Al? You've been rather quiet lately."

"Yeah mum, I'm fine." He lied. Ginny furrowed her eyebrows.

"You're just like you father."

"How so?"

"It's the way you both say you're 'fine' when you're far from it." Albus groaned. "What's wrong Al? You can talk to me. I don't want to be worrying about you more than usual while you're off at school."

"More than usual?" Albus questioned. Ginny grinned.

"I've gotten quite a few letters from your head of house over the years. Thank god you're such a good student, I don't think Hogwarts would tolerate all those pranks if you weren't." She said with a knowing look. "You're Uncle George would be proud."

"You never told him about the dancing toilet seat incident?" Albus joked, well it wasn't really a joke. Last year, he and Scoirpius Malfoy charmed all the toilet seats in a boy's loo to dance around the bathroom.

"I don't need him giving you any more encouragement to cause a ruckus at Hogwarts." She said swiftly. Albus laughed and she joined him. "Seriously though, Al. What's been bugging you?"

"I keep having this dream…about Dad." Ginny raised an eyebrow.

"How often do you have it?"

"Nearly every night for the past month."

"Oh…that sounds like a persistent dream then."

"Yeah." Albus said softly.

"What happens in the dream, if you don't mind me asking?" Albus glanced at his mother thoughtfully. Could she be trusted? Would she be upset?

"If I do, will you promise not tell dad about it?"

"Of course. I won't tell anyone." She promised. Albus took a deep breath.

"It's weird really. Almost like a flashback, but I don't think this ever happened in reality- I think. In my dream, there's a crying baby in a crib. It's me, I know it is because the room I'm in is just like my current room. Then a younger looking version of Dad walks in and picks me up. He puts a bottle in my mouth and stays silent for a few moments, just rocking me back and forth. When I finish, he starts talking, I can't remember about what though. But I do remember the last few things he says."

"What does he say?" Ginny asked.

"He says- 'your dad kills people' and then he asks me to keep it a secret. And then, well and then I wake up I guess." Albus finished, scratching his head. Ginny nodded thoughtfully.

"What do you think this dream means?"

"I don't know." Albus said honestly. Ginny eyed her son with a curious look, masking the fact that she had no conceivable idea on what the dream meant; if it meant anything at all. "I don't suppose you would know if dad actually did kill anyone? Besides Voldermort, of course." Albus asked. Ginny took a quick breath in, hesitated for a split second and said-

"I wouldn't know, Albus. There are rules Aurors have to follow regarding the release of information concerning any missions." Albus nodded and began fiddling with his school trunk. He threw a backpack over his shoulder and turned to his mother.

"We better get going" he paused, "I don't want to relive last year's incident." He joked. Ginny smiled at the memory of watching her youngest son sprint down the platform in an attempt to jump aboard the fleeting train. He did make it on to the train…barely.

"Okay then, I'll go crack the whip on your brother and sister." She walked out the door and began calling out threats to her other children.

Albus stood in his room and stared at his bed for a moment, hoping that his bed at Hogwarts wouldn't have to accommodate his tossing and turning form. Hoping that the dream would finally stopped…after being removed from the same space as his father.

A/N: Thanks to those who give reviews, it gives me a reason to keep writing and posting this. Next chapter: Harry remembers an interesting visit to Dolores Umbridge


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I still own nothing.

From an early age, Harry lacked any realization of human emotion, but it wasn't till he went to Hogwarts that he noticed that. The whole idea of friends and loyalty and caring had been foreign ground to him, but he conquered it easily in his first year. It was a simpler task than saving the Sorcerer's stone, at that. But as the years went on and his personal relationships deepened, he felt even more disconnected from others. It became easier to gage their emotions and form his own actions to match what was expected of him. Hermione gets paralyzed, be sad. Ron ignores him for a month, feel angry. Cedric dies, feel responsible.

But when he entered the realm of teenage romance, it was quite apparent to him that his mind didn't function like most others. Harry watched the others make the transition from children to adults, gaining new and deeper emotions; compared to them he was something lesser, something inhuman. He was attracted to Cho Chang because she was pretty and exotic. They were both seekers, and they both liked each other, how could that combination possibly go wrong? Add in Cedric's lifeless corpse and you turn what could be good thing into a horrendous fiasco full of awkwardness and tears.

Ginny, however, had been different. He knew she liked him, at one point at least. And she was pretty and played quidditch like Cho. But he knew her better- he knew her family and where she came from. He wasn't even entirely sure what type of Asian Cho was. Asking her just seemed rude. Plus Ginny was pleasant to be around- cheerful and funny, he only ever saw her cry- once in the Chamber of Secrets.

Could he love Ginny? And for that matter, what was love? He went ten years without love during a crucial point in his life where a good amount of care was necessary for his development- physically, emotionally, and socially. The Dursley's fed him, a bit, but they never showed any signs of love towards him. Walking through the Hogwarts platform at the end of the term, watching students reunite with family- at first he felt a sense of jealousy. Over time that faded into aloofness. Why feel jealous of something he didn't even know? The idea was inane.

Maybe he couldn't love Ginny the way a normal man could. But he could fool himself into loving her, faking his emotions had become mechanic. Besides, he always felt something flutter in his stomach when he was with her. Perhaps it was a sign that he wasn't totally emotionless. Or it could just be a figment of his imagination, helping him keep character. Husband, Father, Protector- all important roles in his life, all of them acted out perfectly. He cared for Ginny and his children strongly. In fact, he'd rather them find out about his horrible secret and react with shock and disgust, perhaps casting him out of their lives than losing them forever to some maniacal dark wizard out to his revenge on Aurors. At the end of it all, he couldn't be happier that his children would never have to go through what he did as a kid. They would grow up into functioning humans, emotions and all. They would fall in love, lose cherished ones, give the gift of life- and they would feel everything in full force.

Harry smiled at this thought and turned his attention to more pressing matters. He needed a kill. It had only been two weeks since he took down Clarence McGill. But with the house once again empty and Ginny working longer hours, the urge was just too much. It was as if the forces of fate were calling to him. Go out! Go out and kill! Bring another criminal to his rightly justice without wasting tax payer money! Help control the overcrowded prisons of the muggle world! How could he possibly argue with that?

He didn't have a target…yet. That was something he would have to "stumble upon" in muggle newspaper while on tomorrow's mission. Till then, he could re-familiarize himself with his previous victims. He pushed back from his desk, clearing off its surface. With several taps of his wand, his prized trunk ascended into the air. He performed the necessary disarming spells for the numerous hexes he had placed on the trunk. If anyone ever did discover the hidden trunk within his desk, they would have a hell of time getting it open. None of the hexes were lethal, but they were strong enough to blow the hands off anyone who touched the trunk without disarming it first.

"Alohamora." He whispered. The lock clicked open and the lid rose out of it's own accord, as if an invisible wire were pulling it whilst it remained suspended in the air. He stirred up the waves of silver fog, searching for the perfect memory. Something from my earlier days, during Auror training perhaps? No too messy. I had yet to perfect my technique. I need a good clean kill to set me in the mood he thought to himself. He scoured for a few more moments before finally settling on a memory, and a very special one at that.

_ "Dolores Umbridge." He said to himself, smirking. He tilted his head forward, into the swirling liquid. He felt a pull on his shoulders as he fell deeper and deeper into the trunk until finally he landed next to a younger version of himself, ten years younger to be exact. His thirty one year old self was dressed quite sharply in a black muggle suit worn under a grey overcoat. Both hands were shoved deeply into the pockets of his coat- one hand clutching his wand, the other- his weapon. He could spot Umbridge in her magenta petticoat walking about ten feet ahead of him through the crowds of local muggles and tourists._

_He knew for a fact that Umbridge was currently on a two week vacation from her job at the Ministry. How the bitch ever managed to get back into the ministry was beyond him, despite all the reconstruction within the Ministry after the fall of Voldermort. Harry suspected blackmail was to blame for Umbridges re-instantment into the Ministry. She didn't get her old position of Under-Secretary to the Minister, thank god, but rather found a place for herself as a secretary (of all things) in the Department of Records. _

_ Despite her time in Azkaban, she remained the same sickly, sweet, cow of a woman. Her face had a few more lines and scars, and her once plump figure had shrunken dramatically. But Harry had the misfortune of seeing her around the office more than he'd like. She had taken the time to go over some of his reports of previous missions and had started questioning the amount of time he spent out of the office. He knew that she had no business looking through those files, but she had access to them, and she wasn't necessarily forbidden from reading them. _

_ Rather than a file a complaint with Employee resources, Harry decided to take care of the problem himself, the only way he knew how. He was glad that Umbridge decided to vacation in Milan, it cut down his chances of being spotted by anyone he knew. His eyebrows perked up when he saw Umbridge duck onto a darkened side street, it took a few well placed elbows to bustle through a group of Asian tourists before he could turn onto the same road. Not a moment too soon, he spotted the magenta blob unlocking a battered old door with a muggle key, somewhat difficultly. He saw that this door was identical to many others on the street. Umbridge had led him to where she was staying._

_ Renting out a muggle flat instead of staying in a hotel? Harry thought to himself. It was a little extravagant. But then again a few galleons transferred into quite a few Euros; even the poorest wizard could buy himself a nice vacation in the muggle world, if only for a few days. Staying in an apartment also granted the privacy you couldn't find in a 300 room hotel. Harry looked around to see if there were any muggles around and cast a quick disillusionment charm on the door, followed by a silencing spell and lastly a swift "alohamora". The door opened as if being pushed by a gentle specter, and Harry stepped in. _

_ He pulled on his invisibility cloak and headed up the staircase that would lead him to his prey. The sitting room was empty, as well as the kitchen. To his horror and disgust, he heard water running behind a closed door. Just the suggestion of the old cow- standing naked in the shower was enough to make his stomach churn. But he had to set aside such childish complaints, he had a job to do, a need to fulfill, a beast to tame. He slipped off the cloak as well as his overcoat and suit jacket. He pulled out a small package from his pocket and tapped it with his wand- tripling it's size. He pulled out the surgeons smock and a black leather case which held a syringe and bottle of horse tranquilizer. _

_ Sure, he could hex the bitch when she walked out the door, but he couldn't risk the ministry tracking his magic while in another country. Especially if his superiors, as well as his family who had no idea that he was currently in Italy. And besides, Umbridge hated muggles and all their contraptions and inventions, no matter how brilliant they could be. Many pure blood wizards found the idea of muggle medicine disturbing- poking patients with needles to ease their pain, blasting them with harmful radiation to kill a disease, closing up wounds with a staple gun. _

_ He had already decided that Umbridge was going to die "the muggle way". No instant death in a flash of green light for her. Harry heard the water stop and quickly prepared the syringe before taking his place next the door. He could hear Umbridge inside, drying off her wrinkled body, fumbling with the sink and perfume bottles. Her soft steps sounded their way closer to him, and the door whipped open- pouring out a wave of steam. Umbridge only managed to waddle a few feet into the room before Harry steeped out behind her and jabbed the syringe (not so gently) into her fat neck and pressed down on the plunger. She managed to choke out a harsh yelp before falling to the floor in her bathrobe, the syringe still hanging from her neck. Harry made no move to cushion her fall, savoring the sound of her evil form crashing to the hard wood floor. But the best part was, that the fun was only beginning. _

_An hour later, Dolores Umbridge awoke to find herself tied down to the kitchen table of the rented apartment. She was nude, the only covering her private areas was a thick layer of muggle duct tape holding her body close to the table. She made an effort to scream, but a strip of tape covering her mouth limited her to a muffled squeal. _

_ "Oh good, you're awake." A voice said she turned her head as much as she could towards the source of the voice to see Harry, who was currently holding several empty bottles in his gloved hands. He held up the bottle so that she could see the label._

_"Just a little acid to help get rid of evidence, highly toxic stuff. One drop on bare skin will leave you screaming and your flesh melted off. I hear it's quite painful, but don't worry, by the time you make into the tub, you won't be able to feel much of anything." He smiled. _

_Dolores started screaming again behind the tape. Harry stepped forward and quickly ripped the tape off, pulling out a few upper lips hairs and a bit of skin as well._

_ "Potter!! They'll have your Auror license for this! Hell, they'll put you in Azkaban where you've always belonged, you filthy half-breed!" _

_"I'm not one of your students anymore, Dolores. Your empty threats mean nothing to me." He said simply. _

_ "Why you ungracious little fuck! I always knew it! I always knew there was something off about you. The golden boy image was just a mask to cover up what a lowlife delinquent you always were!" she screamed._

_ "As much as I'd like to prove you wrong, and argue my innocence, that cannot be done. I've always had this darkness inside me you see, long before I came to Hogwarts, long before I even knew the magical world existed for that matter." He paused for a moment, and began searching for something in his bag. "I've killed a lot of people over my career as an Auror, Dolores. That's why my missions take a bit longer than expected you see. I've lied to my family, I've lied to my superiors, but its all for their benefit. This world is filled with pieces of scum that deserve an icepick through the skull." His back was turned to her as he leaned down next to the wall. Dolores couldn't see what he was doing. _

_"Including me Potter?" she asked in sweetly sarcastic tone._

_ "No, Dolores. For you, I was thinking about going…electrical." He stood up holding an electrical bone saw that a muggle surgeon would use. He pressed down on the button and savored the whirring sound of it's compact engine, and the dizzying spin of the saw._

_ "Untie me at once! The Minister will have your head for this!" she screamed._

_ "I doubt that rescuing a secretary in the records department is on the top of the minister's "to do" list." He grinned. Umbridge swallowed a heaving breath and yelled at the top of lungs. _

_"Somebody please help me!!" Harry moved swiftly towards the table and brought his fist down, hard into her fat gut. Umbrdge sputtered and gasped out in pain. _

_ "You can scream more if you like. No one will hear you, I've put silencing charms up. But be warned, one more outburst like that and I'll punch you square in the cunt! Trust me, it won't be much of a turn on for either of us." Harry warned. He put the saw down reached into his pocket, pulling out a hunting knife and rag. He began polishing the blade, absentmindedly. _

_ "What do plan on doing anyway Potter? Killing me? What will you do with my body, how will you explain my disappearance?" _

_ "That's the best part, Dolores. As far as everyone at the Ministry knows, you're at home, enjoying a nice week off. I'm not as reckless as I was at fifteen you see, none of the people I've killed have been spur of the moment circumstances. I do a good bit research before I make any plans to observe my prey. For instance, I know that no one knows where you are right now, not that you've got anyone to tell really. That must be a nice part of being single, never having to explain to your significant other or your children where you're going, what you're doing, who will be there. You're completely free, Dolores, like a bird. Like a big, fat, annoying bird."_

_ "You rude, disrespecting piece of sh-" Dolores sentence was cut short, as well as her tongue. Harry held up the pink, spongy flesh to the light as if it was a lost holy relic that had finally been located after centuries of searching. He barely even noticed the river of blood pouring out of Umbridges mouth until her sputtering alerted him. _

_"Not so fast Dolores. I wanted you to bleed out, but not this way." He reached behind him for a vial of blood-clotting potion and dumped a healthy dose into the bitch's mouth. He cast a simple cleaning spell for the blood and inspected the stump in her mouth. _

_ "Gahn gnah.." Umbridge muttered feebly._

_ "No use trying to say anything Dolores. It'll only make you look more pathetic. Besides, it's my turn to talk." Harry sneered. He picked up the bone saw and gave it a whirr. Umbridege's eyes expanded to the size of dinner plates._

_ "I could list off a million and one reasons why you deserve to die in the most violent, and painful way possible. But I'm only going to name several, and it's also worth mentioning that as far as horrible deaths are concerned- you're getting off easy. If I really wanted to make you suffer, I would bring you to a more secret location where you would stay alive and alert until I ran out of limbs to chop off. Also I would only sever one extremity per day."_

_ "Now, onto the reasons why you deserve to die. Remember all those times you called me a liar in my fifth year? I don't like to be called a liar, Dolores. I don't like to be called a liar when I'm lying, and I especially don't like it when I'm being truthful. Also, remember our little detention sessions?" he held up his hand, the scars of 'I must not tell lies' still readable. "I could have easily had these removed with a strong salve, maybe put a simple vanity charm on it like I do for my…other scars sometimes. But I wanted it to be visible all the time, as a reminder of what I must someday do. That day has finally come, Dolores."_

_ Umbridge began to make as much noise as she humanly could, but all that formed was a series of intelligible g's and n's. Harry smiled and raised the saw, it's spinning blade glowed in the florescent lights of the apartment._

_ "Any last words?" Harry asked. Her eyes bulged out in fear and outrage. A vein in her forehead throbbed beneath the sheen of terrified sweat. It was as if the sense of horror inspired by Harry's dark words could not overshadow the anger and hate that she always harbored for him, for any of ex-students really._

_ Harry brought the saw down in a nerve wracking slowness, right above her fat stomach. A delicate red mist hit the ivory walls of the sitting room, followed directly by a noisy splatter of crimson…_

"Harry!! Love, where are you?" Ginny's voice permeated through the replaying memory of Umbridge's last moments alive. Harry jerked his head out of the trunk, slammed the lid shut and lowered back into his desk quickly.

"I'm in my office." He called out. He flicked his wand to unlock the door to avoid any suspicion from his wife. A moment later Ginny opened the door and gave him a soft smile.

"Hey." He said, trying to act normal.

"Hey." She answered, walking towards him slowly. Harry recognized the flirty look in her eyes. 'She must've had a good day' he thought to himself. He shifted his attention to her clothing- her blouse was unbuttoned mid-way, exposing the lacy bra beneath. Her feet were barefoot and her flowing red hair was tied up in bun which she deftly undid before him. "I finished early today, first time I've done that years." She explained.

"Oh, that's great." He responded. Ginny was standing inches away now, her fingers playing with the buttons on his shirt.

"Do you know what's even better though?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Harry shook his head. "Listen." Ginny smiled.

"Listen to what?"

"Exactly. There's nothing to listen to. No screaming, no whining, no explosions… Honestly Harry, I love our children, I really do. But sometimes I wish Hogwarts was in session all year long." She joked and leaned her head on his chest. Harry instinctively wrapped his arms around her- one hand on her back and the other stroking her hair. He knew where this was heading, he could already feel himself hardening. He was sure Ginny could too.

"Now I'm sure you don't mean that." Harry said. Ginny pulled back and shot him a mocking grin.

"Oh, but that's the awful thing Harry, I do."

"Why?"

"Because then I wouldn't have to wait around until they went back to school to shag you senseless. We could shag whenever we pleased." She started kissing his neck. "We wouldn't even have to put up silencing charms ." She whispered.

"True, but then again, I think that our neighbors wouldn't be very appreciative of listening to your screams of passion at all hours of the day." He teased, while running his hands up and down her sides.

"Sod the neighbors." Ginny murmured before Harry's mouth covered hers. He unsnapped her bra beneath her shirt, while she worked on his belt buckle.

"Come on, let's go upstairs." Harry suggested.

"Can't we just do it here? I'm already turned on, and besides- we haven't done it on your desk since before Albus was born."

"On any other day, I would. But I'm getting older- and right now I could really use some cushioning for knees while I plow you to bits." He said suggestively. Ginny frowned at him. "Don't worry, I plan on shagging you on every surface of this house while the kids are away, but right now I really would prefer the bedroom." He pleaded her. Ginny eyed him curiously. Could she tell he was lying? He didn't think he could perform in the room where he just viewed the memory of Umbridge's death. Killing and sex with Ginny were both exciting to him- but on two completely different levels that should never cross paths, let alone mix.

"Okay then," Ginny consented. "But you better mean it."

"Oh believe me, it'll be worth it."

"Okay then," Ginny complied. Harry gave another passionate kiss before lifting her up and exiting his office, slamming the door behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I still own nothing

CHAPTER 6

Albus jerked awake from a tumultuous slumber. It was the dream...again. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slid open the curtains around his four-poster bed to see if his roommates were asleep. They were. The silencing charm he had put on his bed had worked yet again. He looked at the clock on his bedside table and groaned. It was 4 o'clock in the morning and he was wide awake, unable to go back to sleep. He slipped out of bed, grabbed his copy of Quidditch Weekly and walked down to the Slytherin Common Room.

At two weeks into the term, Albus had the dream about his supposedly killer father six times. The last three happening one night after the other. He tried to push away those thoughts; the dream, his conversations with Teddy, his mum and dad. He flopped down on his favorite arm chair and began flipping through the magazine, not even paying attention to the articles, pictures, or the moving advertisement for the new Firebolt. After several minutes of trying to kid himself, he threw the magazine down in frustration. It was no use, he couldn't clear his mind.

If he had been having the same dream that frequently, then something must be wrong. He had considered talking to his Divinition teacher, Professor Grossnickle, but it wouldn't do him any good. The old man was nice enough, but was by no means a seer. He was even worse than the Professor he replaced- Trelawney. His father said she had only made two correct predictions in her entire life…and they weren't that great.

Albus huffed. The very thought of his father was infuriating, and he hadn't even talked to him since he got back. What was he hiding from him? All parents hid things from their children, secrets that would alter their very perception of everything they had learned. But where would Harry Potter keep things hidden? A wave of realization and a stabbing jolt of stupidity shook Albus from his train of thought- his father's office. His entire life- the office had not been something that was forbidden to him, a restricted zone. The door was usually open unless his father was doing work. But had his parents ever lectured him on staying out of the office? No.

Mostly because there was no need to. Neither Albus or his siblings had expressed interest in exploring their father's work space. Mostly because it was so…dull. There were no photos or paintings to brighten up the cedar walls. The floor was bare of any decorative rugs and the entire room consisted of three pieces of furniture- a muggle filing cabinet, a chair, and a desk. Albus's eyes brightened. The desk…he had never really paid much attention to that particular piece of furniture. But if was anything like any other desk, it would contain old letters, forms, papers- a plethora of information.

He looked down at his wristwatch- 4:37 am. It was too late to do anything at the moment, but Albus already had a plan in mind. The following night, he would secretly floo home, using the fireplace in Professor Longbottom's office. Neville was a friend of his father's and had assured his parents that if there was ever something wrong, the Potter children were welcome to floo home. He had a free period in the afternoon, but he would never be able to sneak past Neville if he were in his office. But if he went late at night, his parents would definitely be in bed and Neville would be in his own home. The only thing left to do was borrow his brother's invisibility cloak. But since James was in Gryffindor, he would have to ask him personally instead of just nicking it from his room like he did at home.

Albus leaped up from the chair, hopeful and re-energized. He walked back up to his dorm to lay awake and wait out the alarm clock.

* * *

The next morning, Albus rushed down to the Great Hall to scarf down breakfast and seek out his brother. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about James's tendency to sleep in and ended up spending the breakfast hour tapping his foot impatiently and constantly looking over at the Gryffindor table to see if James was there yet.

"If you keep looking over at your brother's girlfriend, people are gonna start saying things." A voice joked in his ear.

"Shut up Scorpius. I'm not looking at her, I'm looking for James."

"What for? Didn't you get your fill of him this summer?" he snapped back. Scorpius had never been too fond of James. He lived under the influence of his Weasley relatives that all Malfoys were trouble; and he didn't bother to hide this belief from Scorpius.

"I just need to borrow his invisibility cloak." Albus reassured the blonde boy.

"Excellent, we're finally going to sneak into the girls' showers! I knew you'd cave in eventually."

"Sorry to disappoint, but I have other plans." Albus craned his neck towards the entrance to see his brother rushing in past the crowd of students on their way to first period.

"What? What are you plan-" Albus didn't hear the rest of Scorpius's question as he dashed over to his brother.

"James!" he called out as his brother snatched up a piece of toast and started towards his girlfriend- Melinda Krohm. He stepped right in his path.

"What do you want Albus? I haven't even had my morning snog yet."

"Yeah, it must be tough for you being away from mum."James answered his sass with a smack in the head. "Love you too bro, anyway, can I borrow your invisibility cloak tonight? It's important."

"Why, you and your boyfriend planning a rendezvous tonight?" he asked nodding over at Scorpius who was glaring at him from the Slytherin table.

"Very funny, and no. I can assure you that your cloak would be in no danger of acquiring love-stains of any kind."

"No surprise there."

"James- are you gonna let me borrow it or not?" James scratched his chin for a minute and replied-

"If you stay out of my face for the rest of the day, than sure. I'll give it to you at dinner."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome and now make good on that promise." Albus smirked and dashed back to the Slytherin table.

"Mission accomplished?" Scorpius asked.

"Yep." Albus said, swinging his bag over his shoulder and heading towards the door. Scorpius scrambled after him.

"Hey, hold up! What do you need it for anyway?" Scorpius asked. Albus took a quick look around the hall to make sure that no one was in listening range.

"You know that dream I keep having?" Scorpius was the only friend at Hogwarts he told about the recurring dream.

"Yeah, what about it? You gonna try and hide from it underneath that thing?"

"No, arse. I'm gonna sneak home tonight and ransack my dad's office. There's gotta be some information there."

"And this whole plan doesn't strike you as desperate or insane?" Scorpius pressed on.

"Well it's hard to tell. You see I haven't been sleeping that much so that might have something to do with it. Is that what you want me to say Scorpius?" Albus sneered.

"You could always just drop it, you know. Sometimes parents hide things from kids and for good reason. So just accept it and move on."

"Oh come on, like you haven't tried prying your dad to open about being Voldemort's inner circle." Albus accused. He knew he was walking on dangerous turf. Both boys were fully aware of the Malfoy's family ties to Voldemort, but they never discussed it. Scorpius's face went soft for a moment, before recomposing it's usual stony demeanor.

"My dad did tell me about it."

"What?"

"I didn't even ask him to. He just sat me down before I went off to Hogwarts first year. He told me everything about his and my family's part in the war."

"Really?" Albus felt a tingle of jealousy.

"He said that the Malfoy name had a reputation in this school, and that people would say things to me- about him. He just wanted me know to what really happened- good, bad and indifferent. That way it wouldn't be a shock when some sixth year hexed me in the hallway." He said calmly. Albus vaguely remembered their first day of classes at Hogwarts. Scorpius had been hit with a nasty hex on his way out of lunch by an older student and spent the rest of the day in the hospital wing.

"I- Scorpius, I'm-"

"Don't worry about it. Just don't do anything stupid tonight." Albus nodded. He thought it best to not bring up the subject of either their fathers for quite some time.

* * *

"Oh!! Fuck, Gin!!" Harry rasped out as his orgasm hit him like a ton of bricks. He looked down at his wife's head in his lap, licking up the mess he had just ejaculated. She looked up at him with a wicked grin.

"Felt good, yeah?"

"'Good' is a serious understatement. " He was currently sitting on the bench in the entrance way to their home, his pants pulled down to his ankles. It was nearly midnight, but neither he nor Ginny were in any mood to sleep. They had just gotten back from late dinner and couldn't be bothered to make it to the bedroom like normal couples. As long as the kids were at school they would have sex wherever they damn pleased.

"So, I was thinking- remember the other day when you refused to do it on your desk?" Ginny said while standing up before him.

"I did not refuse, I was just too sore."

"Whatever, anyway I think you need to take me into your office and live up to that promise, Potter." said huskily.

"Anything for you, Weasley." Harry smirked back

"Oh going back to the maiden name now are we?" She sneered, putting her hands on her hips.

"Face it love, you might've married me, but you will always be a Weasley."

"Hmmph" Ginny got out before Harry cut her off with a short but hard kiss.

"I do know one thing all Weasley women are good at though," he said while reaching up her dress and swirling his fingers in her sex. She wasn't wearing knickers, but Harry was already aware of this. Ginny let out a satisfied whimper as her knees quivered. "I mean how else would your parents wind up with so many kids."

"Don't be getting any ideas, Potter. Three is plenty for me."

"No complaints here, Gin." He rose up from his spot on the bench and hastily zipped up his pants, leaving his belt dangling from it's loops. "Now, let's step into my office eh?" He said, steering her with a hand on the small of her back.

Ginny gave a raspy laugh, kicked off her heels and started sprinting down the hallway.

"Hurry up would you?" she yelled back at her husband, "I might have to start without you." She reached the doorway to Harry's office and plopped herself down on his desk. Harry appeared in the doorway seconds later, breathing somewhat heavily. He pounced on top of her and began attacking her neck with his lips and teeth, making sure to tease her opening with his well-trained fingers.

"I love you." Ginny moaned. Harry's head shot up at her words to meet her brown eyes, glazed over with lust. This was always the most awkward part for him in sex, but he was a natural at pretending to have feelings after years of marriage.

"I love you too." He said without hesitation. She beamed, and Harry continued his foreplay, moving his mouth down Ginny's body in order to return the favor that she had so generously did for him in the entranceway.

* * *

It was shortly after midnight when Albus landed in the fireplace of the living room. He looked around for any hint of his parents. The house was mostly dark except for a light on in the front hall, but he decided to put the invisibility cloak back on, just in case they heard him come out of the floo.

He made his way to his father's office, wasting no time. But as he got closer, he heard a noise- a moaning. He slowed his steps. The moaning became louder, paired with heavy panting. The door to his father's office was wide open with light pouring out into the dark hallway. Albus reached the doorway only to be greeted with a sight that no teenager, ever wanted to witness.

His father's head was buried between his mother's legs, his hands were reaching up to grope her breasts. Albus felt like screaming, he felt like sticking his head in a fire to burn out his eyes. He slid back into the safety of the hallway and covered his ears like a child. He would just have to wait until they…finished. With shaking legs he made his way back to the living room and took a seat on the couch. He knew that they would have to go upstairs at some point, there was no way they could actually sleep on top of the desk.

What like an eternity passed in a muffled silence (he refused to uncover his ears). His head perked up at the sight of his mother's naked backside running up the stairs, blood rushed to his cheeks but he thought nothing of it as his father followed a few moments behind, wearing only a pair of Gryffindor boxer shorts he had received last Christmas. After hearing the door to their bedroom (hopefully not his) close, he made his way to his father's office, shirking off the cloak. He was pretty sure his parents were too preoccupied to come downstairs again.

His father's office was littered with clothing which he ignored while casting several cleaning charms on the desk. He didn't even bother to look if there were any…liquids, it was something he didn't need to see at the moment. He didn't even know what he was looking for, but he rifled through the drawers and papers that had been pushed off onto the floor. But there was nothing of interest; only bills, banking statements, and official documents. Frustrated ,he sat down in fathers chair and began tapping his wand on the desk, trying to brainstorm.

Much to his surprise the desk stated shaking and a trunk appeared, levitating right out of the wood of the desk. He was astonished. This was it, this must have been what his father was hiding. But how did he open it? He reached a hand out to touch the wood, but stopped suddenly. His father was an auror- an expert on hexes and defensive spells. Surely, the truck was armed.

He remembered a detection charm that James taught him and cast it over the desk…a shield of red swirling vapor encase the trunk- an indicator that there were indeed hexes in place. And by the look of the thickness and color of the vapor, the hexes were pretty serious. Albus might've only been a fifth year student, but he was also the son of on the most powerful wizards on the planet. It took him nearly fifteen minutes of guessing, charming, and trying to remember every piece of theory on dark hexes he ever read to undo the hexes, but he was successful.

Albus attentively looked over the now barren box as it floated above the desk. This was it, this was the moment of truth. He lifted the lid of the trunk and was greeted with more vapor. But this vapor was different- it was silver and calming. Albus had never seen a pensieve up close, but he read enough about them to know that the vapor was actually his father's memories. And if he gone this far to protect them, there must've been some that he didn't want people to see. The thought was terrifying yet exciting. Albus leaned forward over the trunk, sinking his head into the vapor.

A slight panic took over his body as he felt himself being pulled into the trunk, he could feel himself falling at an alarming rate. But his fear was cut short into confusion as he landed in a room that he had never been in before…

_By the looks of it, it was a kitchen that one might see in the back of a muggle restaurant. Counters made of steel and an over sized griddle took up most of the back wall. Everything was coated in a thin of layer of dust- evidence that the place was no longer in business. _

_"Wake up, Clarence." An unseen voice barked from another room. Albus knew it was his father's voice, but there something different about his tone. It was authoritative, yet empty. He walked towards the direction where he heard him. A heavy steel door was ajar, but there was a thin layer of plastic covering the doorway. Albus took a deep breath, pushed aside the plastic and looked in to the room to see that the rest of its surfaces were also coated in plastic sheeting._

_Albus's confusion about the plastic was washed away at the site of his father. He was wearing plastic gloves and an old apron over his street clothes. In his hand was a lethal looking spear, definitely something he had seen before in a muggle movie about Italian-American criminals. He believed the true use for such an instrument was to break up ice, or something. _

_On the table before him lay an elderly man, stripped naked and secured to the table with tape. His eyes were wide open, but his mouth was taped shut._

_"So, feel like talking yet?" Harry asked the old man. He reached down and quickly tore the tape off._

_"Jesus Fuck!" the old man screamed out. Harry landed a quick slap on his cheek._

_"There's no need for such talk, Clarence."_

_"Who the fuck are you?" Clarence rasped out._

_"That's of no concern to you, seeing as how you'll be dead shortly." 'That was it!' Albus thought to himself. This was as a good as a confession that he'd ever hear from his father. The man was indeed a killer. And by the looks of thing this was not his first attempt. Albus was stuck between wanting to leave and wanting to see his father finish the job. _

_"Why are you doing this to me?" Clarence sobbed out. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. It was one of the saddest sites Albus had ever seen. _

_"Why did you feel the need to kidnap and kill innocent paperboys?" Harry asked. That must have been why he was killing him- Albus thought to himself._

_"I didn't want to kill them!"_

_"Then why did you?"_

_ "I- I just.." Clarence let out another sob. Snot was dripping out his nose, matting up his grey mustache. "At first I just took pictures of them, you know?" He breathed deeply. "Doing things in their shorts, touching themselves..."_

_ "So you're a pedophile?" Harry asked. His tone was not accusing or demeaning, he was simply stating a fact. "If you love kids so much, why did you kill them?" That moved Clarence into a wracking attack of sobs. Harry said nothing as he waited for him to calm down. Albus moved closer to get a better look at his father. _

_The face he was wearing- it was cold, angry yet empty. He had seen him make that face once before. When he was younger, they had a family dog, Cujo, who had been stricken with some sort of cancer at a young age. Cujo was able to extend his life with medication, but his physical state was constantly deteriorating to the point where he just slept and whimpered all day. His father told him that Cujo was in a lot of pain, and the reasonable thing to do was end his suffering. Albus insisted on being with Cujo as the animal healer "put him down", he was only nine years old at the time. His father reluctantly agreed and wore the exact same face he was wearing now as Cujo took his last breaths._

_ "I couldn't let them tell on me. I can't go to jail, not at my age." Clarence's voice broke through Albus's thoughts. "So what are you gonna do? Kill me? Hah, if you kill me than you're no better than me!" Clarence snapped._

_ "Let's not turn this into a competition, Clarence. But you're right, I am like you, I am a killer." Even more evidence, Albus thought. "But kids? I would never kill a child. Instead I focus my talents on human scum like you." Harry smirked._

_ "Don't kid yourself buddy." Clarence huffed. Harry rose the ice pick above his head with both arms, and looked down at his prey._

_ "Any last words?" Harry smiled. Clarence's frown quivered, before changing into a wide grin._

_ "Yes, do you have children?" he asked, his tongue stuck out to dampen his lips. Harry's smile faded into a thin line as drove the ice pick into Clarence's wrinkled chest. Clarence tried to scream, but all that came out was a gurgling sound as blood pooled out of his mouth and down his chin._

_ "That's none of your business." Harry said firmly, as he watched Clarence struggle for breath._

_ Albus couldn't move, his feet felt like they stuck to the ground. His heart pounded in his chest. But the worse thing was that he had no idea how to get out of the pensieve, which was the only thing he wanted to do right now. He grabbed his wand out of his back pocket, trying to think of a charm or anything to get him out of there. _

_ Suddenly, he felt something grab the back of his shirt and pull hard, lifting him off his feet and up into a cloud of vapor. He closed his eyes out of fear, and a few seconds later felt himself land on the hard wooden floor of his father's office. He breathed heavily, wiping the sweat off his brow, only to realize that his entire shirt was drenched in sweat. He coughed and whispered out to himself-_

"What the fuck, Dad?" he tried to collect his thoughts, but a sudden force pulled him off the floor by his shirt collar. He turned in shock, only to be met with the furious face of Harry Potter.

* * *

Harry had just finished satisfying his wife when he noticed that his wand had been left behind in the office. He sighed, pulled back the covers, and grabbed his boxers off the floor. It was just the Auror in him, never be without your wand, even at rest. There was no telling when someone might try to break into the house. He just couldn't sleep without knowing his wand was lying on the bedside table next to him.

"Where're you going, love?" Ginny's dazed voice asked from the bed.

"I just to run downstairs and get my wand. I'll be back in a bit." He reassured her. Ginny, like most women, always had the need to cuddle after sex; but he didn't mind. Any measure he could use to establish his masquarade as a loving husband would do.

"Okay, hurry back." Ginny tiredly called back. By the time he turned the door knob, she was snoring lightly. Harry smirked. He might've been an emotionless shell of a man, but it still strengthened his masculinity, knowing that he could fuck that spitfire of woman until she passed out.

Seeing as how he was still wide awake, he stopped in the kitchen to pour himself a glass of firewhiskey to help ease him into sleep. He gulped down the burning liquid in moderate sips on his way to his office. He felt content, but it didn't stop him from nearly dropped the damn glass when he saw what was going in his office.

His beloved trunk was levitating out of its hiding place. But what was even worse was the hunched form of somebody peering in, snooping through his memories. Memories that were hidden in a secret trunk with multiple hexes for a good reason.

It was like his entire life was crumbling before him in a matter of seconds. He couldn't even move from his place in the doorway he was so caught up. _So this is what humanity feels like ____he thought to himself. _Everything he had ever worked for, everything he tried to mask had just been revealed to some stranger who managed to break into his house while he was shagging his wife! Or was it even a stranger?

Harry noticed the very familiar looking black robes. Hogwarts robes. But what was unmistakable was the Slytherin house patch stitched onto the left breast. _Albus!_

Moving into action, Harry dived for his wand on the floor, only to realize that there was no reason for doing so. Albus hadn't even noticed that he was in the room. Without thinking about what he'd say or do, he grabbed the neck of Albus's shirt and violently jerked his son's head out of the trunk, out of his secrets.

His face and shirt were slick with sweat, his chest was heaving with panicked breaths. Harry felt like his own breath was going too fast as well.

"What the fuck dad?" Albus rasped out. Harry was confused for a split second before realizing that Albus still hadn't noticed his presence. He wasn't talking to him directly, he was reacting to whatever horrible thing he had just seen. Harry growled and pulled Albus off the floor roughly, spinning him around to look him in the eye.

"Dad!" Albus exclaimed in panic.

"What did you see?" Harry growled.

"Dad, I'm sorry, I just-"

"What did you see!?" He asked again, making sure he didn't speak loud enough to wake Ginny. He saw Albus clutching his wand and reacted immediately. "Accio!" Albus's wand flew into his hand, he threw it over his shoulder and grasped his youngest son by both arms.

"What. Did. You. See?" Harry asked again. Punctuating each word with a shake to Albus's body.

Albus didn't know what to say. The words wouldn't come out. There was no way he could form a coherent sentence telling his father he had watched him murder a pedophile with an ice pick. He could on manage to utter out the old pervert's name.

"Clarence." Harry's face softened a bit in shock, he tried desperately to slow down his breathing , to keep his heart from pumping out of his chest.

"Clarence McGill you mean? The old man who molested paperboys?" Harry clarified. Albus nodded slowly.

"Ice pick." He said, he didn't know why. Afterall, Harry was there, he had used. Then again, Albus wondered if he killed all his victims with ice picks, or if he switched it up now and then. Harry released his son and stepped back. Eyeing him, as if contemplating his next move. Albus could only stand, still as death.

"Why?" Albus asked. He didn't need to be specific.

Harry remained silent. His face was no longer angry or shocked, the best word to describe it was passive.

"Dad, why did you kill him?" Albus repeated. "Why didn't you just report him to the muggle authorities.

"Because I'm in law enforcement, and I know that it wouldn't get him what he deserved."

"How many others are there, dad. How many muggles have you killed?"

"I don't kill muggles son, only criminals, only dangerous people."

"But, why?" Albus pleaded. Harry looked over his son, contemplating how to answer. He couldn't start from the beginning and work his to this point; that would take all night. But, he couldn't just bluntly say "I'm a serial killer" and expect Albus to fine with it. He would just have to find a middle ground- short but detailed.

"Because Albus, this is the best way to hide my darkness. So I won't lash out at the people around me." Harry said softly. Albus found himself tongue tied again. It was just like his dream, except he was older and could comprehend his father's words.

_Oh shit____._ Harry thought to himself. _He knows my secret____, _and the only people who ever witnessed Harry's secret ended up dead, because only his victims witnessed the dark urge he kept hidden most of the time. _But this is my child____. _And arguably, his favorite child at that, not that he would ever admit it to anyone. He wouldn't want to hurt James and Lily. _God damn my momentary lapse into humanity! I softened up at the worst possible time._ No, he couldn't kill Albus and try to cover it up. That was a failure in the making, not to mention- there was no part of him that wanted to kill his son. But he had killed before to protect his secret. On one such occasion, his victim's wife came home early and he stabbed her on instinct before burying the couple together in a forest.

Albus wasn't saying anything, again. He was just staring at his father blankly. There's was only one thing he could do to protect his secret. It was a shitty way to dupe his own son, but he had cast memory charms on plenty of people. But they were usually traumatized muggles who had witnessed gruesome acts of dark magic; he would clear up their memories and after a few moments of confusion they were fine. Like nothing ever happened; _at least they wouldn't end up as fucked up as me____, _Harry thought while raising his wand above his head.

"Obliviate!" He barked. Albus's face shifted from blank to scared to blank again. He looked around the room, head wobbling in a daze. Harry snapped his fingers to get the boy's attention. Albus's head snapped towards his father and grinned, this was a normal occurrence with Obliviated victims. Harry picked his old invisibility cloak off the floor as well as Albus's wand and tossed them into his son's arms.

"Albus, you will forget about anything you saw or heard in this house tonight. You will also forget about any reasoning you had, whatever it is, to sneak home with your brother's cloak. Understand?"

Like a zombie, Albus nodded his head blankly.

"Good. When you get back to school you will have just woken up from falling asleep in the library and sneak back to your dormitory." He grabbed his son by the scruff of his robes and walked him into the living room. He took a pinch of floo powder and tossed into the fireplace, pushing Albus in shortly after the green flames started flaring up. He pointed his wand at the fireplace and said-

"Hogwarts." The flames exploded around his son and diminished back into nothing. Harry wiped the sweat off his brow and shuddered out a breath of relief. His heart was pounding like mad. He collected himself, and headed into his office, cleaning up the mess and doubling up the number of hexes and masquerade charms to hide his trunk of horror. He didn't have to worry about his wand being tracked for the memory charm, as an auror he had full privilege of using any memory modification charm is necessary. Tonight it had been very necessary.

_I'll have to find a new place for it now____._ He thought. _Somewhere inconspicuous, somewhere wear nobody would go. _But that problem would have to wait till later; he had to get back to bed before Ginny woke up to find him not there. Harry paused for a moment and put his wand to his temple, concentrating on the night's events. A long silvery string formed at the end of his wand, which he placed in a vile. He would just put it in the next time he opened the trunk; this event although embarrassing was something he shouldn't forget.

He was safe… for now anyways. Albus would return to Hogwarts without any idea of what really happened that night. The only thing he'll remember is a false memory of waking up in the library after curfew. Recanting the night's events, Harry was reminded of a quote he heard on some muggle T.V. show about crime- "Nothing truly stays buried forever." Tonight proved that. Luckily, he had magic on his side to help him out. But magic was imperfect, not something he preached to other wizards- but it was a cold hard fact. Hopefully nobody would discover the true nature of Harry Potter until long after he was gone.

* * *

Albus skirted along the corridors with his brother's invisibility cloak wrapped tightly around him. He couldn't remember falling asleep in the library, or for that matter even going to the library in the first place. He felt tired, abnormally tired- like he hadn't slept a full night in weeks. Hopefully, that would change.

He approached the bare, stone walls the concealed the entrance to the Slytherin common room and whispered the password- "Clandestine". The door slid open, and Albus hustled up to his dormitory, making sure to be quite. Without even bothering to remove his clothes or shoes, he plopped down on his bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

What felt like a few seconds, but was actually six hours later, Albus was awoken by Scorpius's startled voice-

"Christ, Al! you could've at least taken off the invisibility cloak before you passed out! For a second I thought that all that was left of you was a head!"

Albus opened his eyes to the offensive light of the sun and his best friend gaping at him. He kicked off the cloak and stretched his arms above his head with a yawn.

"I can't remember the last time I slept so well."

"So, how did last night go?" Scorpius asked with a blank face. Albus raised his eyebrows in confusion, not sure about what Scorpius was referring to. Remembering his walk from last night, he figured he had been asking about the library.

"Eh, fine." He said. There was no reason for Scorpius hear about how he fell asleep with no recollection of anything. He'd chalk that up to sleep deprivation. Scorpius nodded.

"Find what you were looking for?" That only managed to confuse Al even more. But he was starving and still needed to shower and change before breakfast.

"Yes and no, I guess. Anyway, I got to get moving on a shower. It's only a half hour to my first class and if I don't get something to eat before then I will not be a happy camper." He leaped off his bed and began shedding his day-old robes while searching for a clean towel.

"Right, I'll see you in the great hall then. " Scorpius said as he walked out the room.

Albus never remembered what did happen that night. The dream that had plagued him for months was completely forgotten and never occurred again. The terrible secret that he discovered about his father was now a blank spot in his mind. And he wasn't even aware of it.

* * *

Harry and Ron stood calmly against the brick wall of platform 9 ¾ while their respective wives scanned the crowd for any sight of their children. Ron was talking about some new Auror trainee who "couldn't tell the difference between his wand and his cock", but Harry only pretended to listen. His real concern was Albus, and how he would act in front of him. The last time he had seen the boy, he had been under the influence of a powerful memory charm, the time before that he was questioning his killing streak. How would he act after being hit with a memory charm to protect his father's reputation?

"Ron!" Hermione's voice brought his back to earth, "Stop using such crass language, I don't want it around when the children come home."

"Oh, come on love. Rose is fifteen and Hugo is thirteen. Lord knows what kind of language they use at Hogwarts. Hmm, I wonder if there are any new phrases or words that the kids are using now?"

"Knut for your thoughts, love?" Ginny's voice broke him out of his daze.

"I'm just excited to see the kids is all. I missed them."

"Yes, I've grown quite find of them myself." Ginny joked. Harry let out a chuckle. She smiled and took his arm in hers. "How long do we give them before we're sick of them and counting down the days to the next term."

"Hmm…I'd give it fifteen minutes."

"Oh, being generous this year?"

"Well it is Christmas." Harry said as he spotted James dragging his trunk towards them.

"Watch this." Ginny grinned into his ear. She let go of his arm and rushed over to her first-born, arms outstretched. "James!!" She threw her arms around his waist tightly as her son's face turned a bright shade of magenta.

"Mum! Do you have to do this right now?" he squealed, while trying to pull out of her grasp. Ginny pulled back, joining in on her husband's laughter.

"How are you, James?" Harry said as he gave his son a short, manly hug.

"I'm alright, Dad. Could you hold on to mum for a moment, I still need to say goodbye to Melinda and I don't want her cramping my style even more than she already has."

"Sure, son. Make it quick though." James nodded and rushed off just as Lily, Rose and Hugo stepped up to them. Harry greeted his niece and nephew, gave Lily a hug and turned his attention back to the crowd.

He saw Albus walking alongside Scorpius, discussing something. He looked up to see his father staring at him, and much to Harry's relief, smiled. _That's new_ Harry thought to himself, Albus had been exceptionally broody this summer. It was good to see him smile again. Albeit he had to use a memory charm on him for that to happen. Albus parted ways with his Scorpius, Harry was sure to give the Malfoy boy a curt nod, which he returned. Just because he still hated Draco's guts didn't mean he had to be an prat to his son.

Speaking of which, Harry spotted Draco and his wife from across the platform. A slow wave of disgust and regret filled his being. Of all the people he ever dreamed of killing out of pure hatred, but couldn't- Malfoy was number one.

"Hey mum, hey dad." Albus greeted his parents.

"Oh Al, you're even taller than you were last August!" Ginny gushed as she hugged him. Albus now towered over his mother, and was almost Harry's height. He was still a thin as a stick, unlike James who was built like his Uncle Charlie- all muscle.

"How was the semester?" Harry asked as they started making their way towards the exit.

"Not bad. I don't think the O.W.L.s should be that tough."

"Good, good. And everything else- your friends, your house, all good? Been getting enough sleep?"

"Now that you mention it," Albus started. Harry felt his heart drop a bit. "I've been sleeping great, and I don't know why. For some reason, and the very beginning of the term I was always tired. But one day I woke fully charged and I've been sleeping great since."

"So everything's good?"

"Yeah dad, everything's good." Harry nodded , his heart restored to its usual place. Indeed, everything was good. For the time being anyways.

A/N: This not the end of the story, but it's pretty damn close. Epilogue to come shortly.


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

Albus groaned as he staggered up the stairs to the attic. His joints creaked along with the aging stairs as he slowly neared the door. At the age of 85, this wasn't exactly the best job for him to be doing, but James was unable to walk on his own anymore and Lily was off at her granddaughter's Hogwarts graduation. Albus was heaving by the time he reached the door and jostled the knob, it was stuck in place. Nobody must've gone up here in years, which was understandable.

His father had passed away several years ago at the ripe old age of 108, and his mother had followed in the same direction just last week. He was surprised at how long Ginny was able to hold on to her life after Harry died; she had spiraled into an understandable depression for several months after his funeral but woke up one day and decided to move out of the empty house and into a Magical Senior Community, not a home, but a _community_.

The house had been left to her children for whatever purpose they found necessary. But now that their mother was in gone, they saw no reason to hold on to their childhood home. A real estate agent was coming over in the next few days, but until then the house had to be cleaned out of anything "Potter".

Albus silently waved his wand and the door flew back open, a cloud of dust pouring out onto Albus. He brushed off his sweater and walked through the doorway. The placed was covered with dust and piles of old possessions. Luckily a few quick cleaning charms and Albus was able to start sorting through the mountains of old relics. He banished useless junk to garbage pile outside, and anything that looked important into a pile downstairs for later sorting. Despite his age, he was able to reduce the amount of crap in the attic at a fast rate.

Within about a half hour, he had the entire attic cleared out; the floor and walls lay bare except for a few spider webs here and there. Albus, was about to head back downstairs when something in the far corner of the room caught his eye. It looked like imprint of something in the wall, rectangular in shape and just barely rising out of the surface of the wall.

"Al!" James voice croaked from downstairs.

"What?" Albus called back.

"Are you done up there yet? Jeremy and Harrison just arrived to help us get everything sorted out." Jeremy and Harrison were just two of James 's many grandchildren. "Harrison has to get back to St. Mungos in two hours."

"Keep your shirt on James, I'll be down soon!" He called back. _Useless old coot,_ he thought to himself grudgingly. His relationship with brother was fine, but he couldn't but feel annoyed at his brother's immobility, although it wasn't exactly his fault. James had a stellar career as a beater for the Appleby Arrows, but had suffered many bludger hits throughout his career which in turn seemed to speed up the aging in his joints. Poor James had been confined to a wheelchair last year when it became apparent that was no way potions or charms could restore his ability to walk.

Albus himself didn't have any grandchildren, not from lack of trying of course. He had been married twice, but both unions ended in horrific divorce proceedings. Albus hated being stuck in one place for too long, his constant need to travel and refusal to settle down to raise a family had been the reason for both separations. He just couldn't find anyone willing to help him raise a family with his need to travel and dwell in foreign lands.

He turned his attention back to the imprint in the wall and stepped closer to inspect it more fully. He raised his wand to the aged wood and tapped it lightly; much to his astonishment, the imprint expanded out of the wall, revealing an old dusty trunk. It remained suspended in the air as Albus looked upon it with confusion.

Who did it belong to? And more importantly, why did they find the need to hide it in the wall? Seeing as how his parents had this house built right before James was born, it had to belong to one of his family members. Rather than calling down to James to see if it was his, Albus decided to uncover the mystery himself. After all, whatever the trunk held couldn't be too terrible- embarrassing photos and old mementos from past relationships at worse.

Albus raised his wand again and recited a hex detection charm. The trunk became enclosed in thinning vapor, indicating that were hexes in place-but they were very old. Perhaps cast years ago. Albus easily undid the hexes, something that he had done many times before throughout his career as a DADA professor. He never taught at his alma mater of Hogwarts (although he had been given several offers over the decades), but instead traveled the globe to work in a variety of wizarding schools. He had taught classes on every continent, even to a clandestine tribe of magical folk who presided in Antarctica. That had been a cold, but very rewarding, six months.

But something felt different about disarming this trunk, something felt familiar. Not familiar in a sense that he had done this a million times before, but rather in more a déjà vu sense. As if he had disarmed this trunk before; but he couldn't remember ever seeing it in the attic, or anywhere else in his life.

Without further stalling, Albus opened the lid of the trunk to be met with the sight of even more vapor. But this vapor was thick, having withheld the test of time. It was also a very familiar silvery color, much like the one in his personal pensieve he kept for research purposes.

Well that solves part of the mystery Albus thought to himself. The trunk was an oversized pensieve, simply put. But who did it belong to and why did they find the need to hide it the wall and cast dozens of protective hexes? There was only one way to find out.

Albus stepped forward and bent his body over the trunk, lowering his head into the pool of vapor. He felt a familiar tugging sensation as his body was pulled into the trunk of mysteries. ..

_He found himself in a very familiar looking room, it wasn't in anyplace that he could remember from a family function. But he had definitely been there before. The walls were a made of a dark oak, furnished with dark drapes, leather armchairs and an assortment of artwork depicting images of Salazar Slytherin. And yet, it was definitely unlike any room he could remember from Hogwarts. _

_ He suddenly became aware that he was not the only person in the room; a middle aged man with light blonde hair was hunched over something at his desk. Albus easily recognized him as Draco Malfoy. The door to the room opened and much to his astonishment, his twenty year old self walked in after an equally young Scorpius. It became all too obvious that he was standing in Draco's office at Malfoy Manor. Draco looked up from his work._

_ "Oh, hello son." He greeted Scorpius. "Albus," he added with a curt nod. "What are you two up to?" The elder Malfoy had always been courteous with Albus, although it was obvious that he'd rather his son find a different best mate. Preferably someone who was not the son of his own childhood enemy._

_ "Hey Dad, Albus is shipping off to Japan tomorrow and I wanted to take him out to some muggle bars. Seeing as how he won't be back for a while." Scorpuis explained. "So, can I borrow the car?" Draco reluctantly agreed to purchase a muggle car for certain occasions. He still wasn't willing to take a driving test._

_ "Japan?" Draco questioned. _

_ "Yes sir, I was recently initiated into the International Association of Magical Education and my first assignment is at the Shinto Academy of Sorcery in Hrioshima." Albus explained. Draco was a bit taken back._

_ "That's very impressive, Albus. Congratulations." He turned to his son. "You can take the car, just don't wreck it. I don't quite feel like shoveling out more money for another one of those…contraptions." Draco explained, tossing the keys to Scorpius_

_ "Thanks dad." Scorpius smiled._

_ "Have a good evening Mr. Malfoy." Albus said._

_ "Enjoy your time in Japan." Draco added with a slight smile. Albus watched his younger self and younger Scorpius exit the room. Draco went back to his work. Albus couldn't help but feel confused. Who's memory was this? He was in it, but it certainly wasn't his. He didn't remember much of that night and for good reason; he and Scorpius got smashed and had to take an international portkey to Japan the next morning with the worst hangover of his life. Just as he was about to wave his wand and switch to another memory- a voice called out-_

_ "Petrifus Totalis!" Draco went stiff in his seat and tipped over onto the floor with a crash. Albus tried to see where the hex came from, but no one else was in the room. And then he saw his father's head hanging in mid air._

_ "What the fuck?" Albus murmured to himself. _

_ "Good evening Malfoy…long time no see." Harry smirked. Albus noticed that his father had a thick rope swung over his shoulder, suddenly all the clues added up to event that Albus had nearly forgotten about. He had only been in Japan for two days when received owl from Scorpius explaining that his mother had come home from a weekend trip to find Draco hanging from a support beam in his office. No suicide note had been left. But there was no evidence, or bruises on his skin that suggested foul play. _

_ "There's no way…" Albus said to himself._

_ "Well Draco, I'd love to remove that hex and have a few nice words with you, but I need to back at the ministry in a half hour." Harry went to action and levitated Draco's stiff body into the air. He quickly tied a noose in the rope and secured around the elder Malfoy's neck. He pointed his wand at the other end of the rope, which rose on its own accord and fastened itself around a horizontal beam on the ceiling. _

_ With Malfoy's body still levitating in the air, Harry undid the stunning spell to allow him to talk._

_ "What the hell is this about Potter!"_

_ "You know what this is about- all those years of false accusations, trying to kill me, and being an overall fucking prat. That's what this is about Malfoy!"_

_ "Never expected you to hold such a grudge." Draco sneered. "So this is how you're going to kill me, the muggle way?" he further mocked._

_ "Don't be so quick to speak negatively about muggles. Sure, I could hit you with a quick Avada Kedarva, and you would fall dead to the ground, with no pain." He paused. "But this way, I'll be able to watch your last breaths go by in a suspenseful agony, and the best part is- the next person who walks into this room is going to look at your body, and assume that you've taken the cowards way out."_

_ "You won't get away this Potter! People are going to ask questions about this, I am very well connected."_

_ "I don't doubt your connections, Malfoy. However, seeing as how I've done this type of thing before, albeit with more gruesome effects, I have yet to be caught." Harry said smugly. "Remember your old mistress, Dolores Umbridge."_

_ "Yes, she disappeared years ago. Nobody's been able to find her."_

_ "And they never will, I assume her body has long since been washed out to sea via the Tiber river in Italy. Probably devoured by sharks and shit out years ago by now." Harry smirked._

_ "Proud of yourself, Potter?" Malfoy sneered. Harry grinned and flicked his wand. The noose around Draco's neck tightened, rendering him unable to speak._

_ "Don't try to condescend me you weasel. I'm not proud of what do; it's just what I have to do to avoid taking out my dark urges on the ones who care about me." Harry explained. "Now Draco, just to give you some information on how this will happen; most people think that death by hanging is induced by strangling, and blocking oxygen to your main air way. However, hanging victims more commonly die as a result of the neck breaking from the sudden drop, causing trauma to the spinal cord."_

_ Draco peered at him with a mixture of anger and confusion._

_ "Give me whatever disproving looks you want Malfoy. I just wanted to let you know how it would happen, most of my victims never get this type of scientific explanation, you should be grateful." He looked down at his watch, "Damn I'm gonna be late," he turned back to Malfoy and raise his wand. "Sweet dreams, you fucking tosspot!" he brought his wand down and Malfoy dropped, until the slack of the rope ran out. A loud snapping noise sounded throughout the room. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his mouth let out a strain of unintelligible grunts and heaves._

_ With much panic, Albus brought out his own wand and gave it a wave. His heart was thumping hard, he had to get out of there. He felt his body being pulled backwards, colors meshed into a confusing swirl of blurry images and incomprehensible noise. Just as he felt the bile beginning to rise out of his throat, the swirling stopped, and he found himself in yet another familiar room._

_ This time it was much more evident that he was in his own home, specifically in his father's office. His father's normally tidy office was in a disarray of scattered papers and clothing, for some reason. He looked up to see the very same trunk he was sticking his head into right now, suspended in the air between his fifteen year old self and a very pissed off looking Harry Potter._

_ His younger self was dressed in Hogwarts robes and looked sweaty, anxious, and terrified. His father's jaw was set in stone as he looked over his son, wand at the ready. Albus lifted up his head to meet his father's stare_

_"Why?" Albus asked. Harry remained silent, face stuck in a passive expression._

_"Dad, why did you kill him?" Albus repeated. "Why didn't you just report him to the muggle authorities?"_

_"Because I'm in law enforcement, and I know that it wouldn't get him what he deserved." Harry answered. Albus looked at his younger self taking a deep breath to sooth his nerves. He felt himself doing the same thing; this was not something that he remembered from his childhood. Not at all. Was it a false memory, perhaps? Then again, the last memory he saw seemed to fill in some blanks over the mysterious suicide of Draco Malfoy. Albus wasn't in the country at the time of course, but the topic was still something of great public interest when he returned to Britain eight months later._

_"How many others are there, dad? How many muggles have you killed?" his younger self pleaded._

_"I don't kill muggles son, only criminals, only dangerous people." Harry answered placidly. _

_"But, why?" Albus pleaded. Harry looked over his son, as if contemplating how to answer. After several moments of silence he said, "Because Albus, this is the best way to hide my darkness. So I won't lash out at the people around me." Harry said softly. _

_Elder Albus felt his heart drop. There was no way this was real. Harry started looking at his younger self in a way that made him feel very uncomfortable. As if he was sizing him up. His mouth opened and closed several times, as if reciting his game plan in his mind. Younger Albus just at his father blankly. And then, all of a sudden, Harry's wand was raised right to his face, his voice bellowed out the word- _

_"Obliviate!" _

_Younger Albus's face shifted from blank to scared to blank again. He looked around the room, head wobbling in a daze. Albus could only stare in shock, fear, anger as watched the effects of the memory charm kick in. At least he knew why he couldn't remember this night._

_Harry snapped his fingers to get the boy's attention. Young Albus's head snapped towards his father and grinned. Harry picked his old invisibility cloak off the floor as well as Albus's wand and tossed them into his son's arms._

_"Albus, you will forget about anything you saw or heard in this house tonight. You will also forget about any reasoning you had, whatever it is, to sneak home with your brother's cloak. Understand?"_

_Like a zombie, fifteen year old Albus nodded his head blankly. His heart started pacing at an alarming rate. Watching his father kill Malfoy and admit his sins was hard enough. But watching his father erase his memory of that night, was enough to send him over the edge. He couldn't stand to be trapped within the memory any longer. He wordlessly, but frantically waved his wand and felt his trembling body being pulled upwards._

The next moment, Albus was stumbling backwards, catching himself against the wall. His knees nearly buckled underneath his shaking limbs, his face coated with sweat and his heart still pumping away.

_What do I do now_? Albus thought to himself. He could either close up the trunk and destroy it- erasing any evidence of his father's darkness. Or he could share what he saw to the world- exposing the hidden nature of Harry Potter- a magical icon, one of the greatest wizards to ever tread the earth. No, he couldn't forget what he saw and he couldn't let his father's horrible deeds lay quiet. Maybe if they kept it in the family, guarding it from outsiders like a hidden treasure- only it was a terrifying secret, not a box of gold. _A box of shit, a box of lies, but a box of answers nonetheless. _

"Albus! Albus what's taking so long, did you fall or something?" James voice traveled from downstairs.

"No, I'm fine, but I need some help with something. Can you send up Harrison or Jeremy? I need someone to help me carry something."

"What are you on about you old coot? You have a wand, just levitate it downstairs." _Fucking prat_ Albus thought to himself.

"Just send one of them up here, I need help!" he barked back. "Ow!!" he stammered. The frantic beating in his chest had turned into a sharp stabbing pain. He felt his left arm go numb, knowing full well what his body might be trying to tell him. Albus feared the worse. He swore under his breath and collapsed to the floor. His breathing heightened into harsh pants and then subsided into one last exhale.

Next to Albus's motionless body, the trunk remained suspended in the air, its lid fully open.

* * *

"Albus? Albus what's wrong, did you fall down again?" James croaked from his wheelchair. He was answered with silence, which was odd because Albus had been screaming his head off not thirty seconds ago. He turned to his grandson, Harrison.

"Can you up and check on him? I fear you old uncle might've had a fit." He asked . Harrison wordlessly nodded his head. He had completed his healer training four months ago, and knew how to handle a situation like this.

Harrison started up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He rounded the corner and peered up at the narrow steps that led to the attic. The door was ajar.

"Uncle Albus! Are you alright?" he shouted as he moved swiftly up the stairs. He heard nothing in response, but when he got the doorway, he understood why.

Albus was lying on his back, his hand still clutching at his chest. His eyes were open, but lifeless.

"Shit." Harrison mumbled to himself. He knelt down to feel his pulse, but there was no use. The man was dead, and there were no potions or charms that existed which could bring him back to life. He was thankful that it had been him and not his grandfather or his brother to discover Albus like this. He saw dead bodies all the time at Mungo's. The sight of his dead great Uncle was not particularly moving or horrifying. He was only annoyed at the thought of attending yet another funeral. He would have to take more time off from work and deal with yet another mountain of paperwork when the mourning was over.

He noticed a trunk levitating next to Albus's body and peered into it. He was met by the sight of swirling clouds of silvery vapor. Obviously a pensieve he thought to himself. Rather than immediately inform his grandfather about Albus, or bring his body to Mungo's- Harrison leaned over the trunk and dipped his head into the vapor.

He felt his body being pulled into the depths of the trunk and into moments from his great grandfather's life that he never learned about at Hogwarts. Moments and memories that would change the conception of Harry Potter forever.

THE END

A/N: That's that. What do you think? Reviews appreciated.


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